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AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR TO 
THE NEAR EAST 








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— LIRRARY 


-UNIVERSIIy OF ILLINOIS 


URBANA 





An Educational Ambassador 
to the Near East 


The Story of Mary Mills Patrick and an American 
College in the Orient 


By 
HESTER DONALDSON JENKINS, Ph.D. 


Sometime Professor of History and English in 
Constantinople Woman’s College 
Author of “Behind Turkish Lattices,” “The 
Perfect Gentle Knight,”’ etc. 





New York CHICAGO 


Fleming H. Revell Company 


LONDON AND EDINBURGH 


Copyright, McmMxxv, by 
FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY 


Printed in the United States of America 


New York: 158 Fifth Avenue 
Chicago: 17 North Wabash Ave. 
London: 21 Paternoster Square 
Edinburgh: 75 Princes Street 


Foreword 


NE of the most significant appreciations of 
the work of Mary Mills Patrick through 
Constantinople Woman’s College appeared 

in 1908 in a newspaper of Constantinople called 
Tanin, or Echo. The Revolution had just made a 
free press possible, and the latter gave a welcome 
to the first Turkish woman who was ready to write 
for publication. This woman was one of the most 
brilliant graduates of the College, Halideh Edib, 
pioneer, patriot, leader of the feminist movement 
of Turkey and novelist. An article on her Alma 
_» Mater was the second thing she ever published. 
A translation follows of the last paragraph of this 
N essay, which she called 


3 TO OUR COLLEGE 
\.* “In the dark days when our country was cov- 
“ered by a dense cloud, in the midst of disaster and 
-despair, to you I lifted my eyes. With the finest 
“subtleties and the broadest realities of civilisation 
sand humanity, you extended knowledge to the 
“darkest horizon of Turkey, O Institution. And 
‘you, honoured women, yea, you teachers, who left 
your own land and your own people to elevate and 
“enlighten the dark corner of this freedomless, por- 


5 


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find? OE 6 oO ae 
‘ wht Py 
Ww wat Net 


at 


6 FOREWORD 


tionless land, sacrificing your finest years in your 
piety; you have struggled to bring light to Ottoman 
soil, to Ottoman civilisation, fighting for learning 
and culture. This first opportunity to speak 
through the Ottoman press this day I consecrate 
to a greeting to you! The large ideas from which 
Turkey was shut out, the great feelings which 
were opened up to me in your class-rooms, the 
ideas to which I was led in your libraries, showing 
me that there was no difference in men for race, 
class, sect, or religion,—these ideas that made me 
live like a person, a civilised person, a humanity- 
loving person, that enabled me to live larger 
thoughts, generous thoughts, thoughts such as you 
were living; these ideals I owe to you, O women, 
and to each and all of you I essay to express my 
gratitude and to live according to the principles 
which I owe to your teaching alone. I love, love, 


love everything about the college! ” 
Constantinople. 


| 


ITI. 
IV. 
. Tue Vision oF Mary Mixzs Patrick . 

VI. 
VII. 
VIII. 

IX. 


XIII. 
XIV. 
XV. 
XVI. 
XVII. 
XVIII. 
XIX. 
XX. 
XXI. 
XXIT. 


. A Fire AND A REMOVAL . 
XI. 
X IT: 


Contents 


. Tue OrreNtTAL GIRL AND THE AMERICAN 


Girt IN 1876 . 


Mary Miius Patrick eee FOR THE N EAR 
East 


A LitTtLE CANDLE ueaWe The ean 
SoME ARMENIAN SCHOOLGIRLS . 


THE GREEK STUDENTS 
Two ALBANIAN HEROINES . 
CoMING ‘DOWN FROM THE BALKANS. 


ADMINISTERING AN AMERICAN COLLECE IN 
THE ORIENT 


Tue TurkisH Girrs WHo DareEpD . 


How THE REVOLUTION OF 1908 OPENED THE 
Door To TuRKISsh WOMEN 


THE CouNTER-REVOLUTION . 

PROGRESS IN THE COLLEGE 

An IsLéE oF PEACE IN THE MipsT oF War 
Mary MILLs Patrick REALISES Her DrEAM. 
THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE COURSES 
THE COLLEGE AND THE GREAT War. 

A Serious CoLLece Crisis . 

IQIg TO 1924 y 

Mary Miiis Patrick Rao 


FEMINISM IN THE NEAR EAST IN 1924 . 
APPENDIX i 


INDEX 


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Illustrations 


FACING 

PAGE 

Ue Pr ACTIC Rote ate alate aids dais Suda gis Title 
The Buildings in Scutari Crowning the Asiatic 

PITCH asia ett SAE Sear gan ie PUN Bs Sia, 26 

Sevasti and Parashkevi Kyrias............. 78 
The Bright-eyed, Up-to-date Bulgarian Stu- 

Y Relea TO REPRE eS UR ae asin eta ane aD e 100 
Seven Turkish Girls Who Blazed the Trail for 

Other Moslem Students. ........5.-.5008 148 


Mary Mills Patrick’s Dream Realized in Stone 206 


Stately Armenian Maidens Presenting Their 
TR CIEHEAALON ula erat tstaes ae ie sie criy eels 212 


PALOPRLOVEINESS iNew ayia wie we eel es fue Mg 212 
The Queen is Dead. Long Live the Queen!.. 280 


Acknowledgments 


CKNOWLEDGMENTS are due to Editors 
of magazines who have allowed the use of 
articles appearing in their pages here repro- 

duced in modified form. These are the Editors 
of Asia, The National Geographic Magazine, The 
Outlook and The Open Court. 

Warm acknowledgment is also made to the un- 
published memoirs of the late Caroline Borden, for 
many years a trustee of Constantinople Woman’s 
College. 


10 


I 


THE ORIENTAL GIRL AND THE 
AMERICAN GIRL IN 1876 


N the screen of memory, the women of the 
Orient pass before me. Strong young 
peasants in long homespun gowns and gay 

embroideries, their honest faces turned towards 
the West; pretty, aimless, secluded wives in the 
harem, and their daughters, eagerly pushing back 
their veils and scanning with timid hope the far 
horizon; the resolute young pioneers in the fields 
of medicine and literature; the rich and over- 
dressed ladies of fashion; the shameless gipsies in 
bloomers and brilliant floating scarves; the pitiful, 
begging children; the wise, old women with hair 
dyed scarlet, who nod their heads and know; the 
faithful, careless and kindly servants; eternally 
feminine, yet constantly changing and aspiring; 
primitive and yet pushing onward; above all, 
hopeful. 

The modern opinion of women is turning to the 
sage dictum of the sharp Mrs. Poyser, that “‘ God 
Almighty made ’em to match the men.” In other 
words, that fundamentally men and women are 
about on an equality. But history has had much 


11 


12 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


to say in the matter, and the characteristics that 
women have displayed in the past have been 
largely the result of their environment. 

Everyone would grant that the environment 
of America has been much more favourable to 
woman’s development than the environment of the 
Near East. But one who knows the Oriental 
women and has seen them respond to education 
and Western influence will not be slow to acknowl- 
edge the latent power of this slowly developing 
womanhood. Given anywhere near the same 
chance, the “‘ new woman ” of Turkey proves that 
she and American women are “sisters under 
the skin.” 

This is the story of an American woman who 
had faith in her Eastern sisters, and of an institu- 
tion that has done an immense deal to develop the 
womanhood of the Near East. The woman is 
Mary Mills Patrick, and the institution is Constan- 
tinople Woman’s College. The story is an impor- 
tant part of the general story of the awakening of 
woman in Turkey and the Balkan States. 

The scene of the story is that most fascinating 
and personal of cities, Constantinople, of which a 
modern Turkish poet wrote: 


“O glorious setting for tragedy’s rage 
Thou of greatness and pomp at once cradle 
and grave; | 
Queen, eternally luring, the Orient thy slave; 
* * x * * 


THE ORIENTAL GIRL 13 


Old Byzance, still thou keepest immune to all 


harm 
After husbands a thousand thy fresh, virgin 
charm.” 
(Tewfik Fikret Bey, Translated by 


H, D. Jenkins.) 


The story begins in the last quarter of the nine- 
teenth century. A good date to name as point of 
departure is the year 1876. 

To people in the United States, that means Cen- 
tennial year, the one hundredth anniversary of the 
launching of the Ship of State. To Turkey, it 
records the accession of Abdul Hamid II. to the 
throne of the Ottoman sultans. 

It would be interesting to compare the position 
and prospects of American and Oriental women 
in 1876. 

In America, woman has always been man’s 
mate, the pioneer woman being conspicuously 
sturdy, resourceful, enduring and energetic, cer- 
tainly “‘ matching ” the men of that heroic Western 
movement. From Priscilla Alden to Anna Howard 
Shaw, the pioneer woman won her glorious spurs. 
Then came the period of prosperity and ease when 
woman was gently pushed back into her “ sphere,’ 
the home, and the chivalrous American husband 
and father tried to “spoil” her. But another 
style of pioneer sprang up, the pioneer of political 
and economic equality. 

The struggle for political “rights” was well 


14 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


under way in 1876, but had been set back by the 
Civil War. Susan B. Anthony, aided by able lieu- 
tenants, was fighting a noble campaign for her sex. 
Her paper, The Revolution, with its stirring motto, 
“Men, their rights and nothing more; women, 
their rights and nothing less,” had just been 
merged in The Woman’s Journal, established in 
Boston in 1870. The struggle for equal suffrage 
and for legal justice was to be waged sharply later, 
before it attained its triumph, and in its wake came 
the opening of higher education to women, their 
entrance into the professional, industrial and the 
business world, and their training in the qualities 
that had always been considered to belong solely 
to men. 

In 1876, the ‘female seminary” and the 
‘“‘young ladies’ academy ” were the forerunners 
of the woman’s college of today, Mount Holyoke 
Seminary and Wheaton Seminary being two out- 
standing illustrations. But in 1864 Vassar Col- 
lege, and in 1875 Wellesley College started the 
splendid list of real colleges for women. In 1872 
Cornell University established Sage College, thus 
beginning the coeducation movement which was to 
spread so quickly to state universities, and develop 
the “ Annex ” at Harvard and Columbia, where a 
few hardy women studied with or near the men. 
One of the first professional schools for women 
was the Woman’s Medical College in Philadelphia. 

At the great Centennial Exposition, the women 


THE ORIENTAL GIRL 15 


of the country, amid vast enthusiasm, financed and 
erected a $30,000 building to display ‘“‘ Woman’s 
Work.” That the building was modest according 
to the standards of today and the display still more 
so, was only natural, but it was a promise of the 
place that woman was rapidly winning for herself. 
Although legally woman’s position in the various 
states left a great deal to be desired, yet socially 
no women have ever had more freedom, been 
accorded more opportunities for self-development 
and service, than have American women in the last 
half-century. It was from such women that sym- 
pathetic help went forth to the women of Turkey. 
In 1876, the once great and powerful Ottoman 
Empire was greatly reduced and_ enfeebled. 
Although it retained rule over a vast area in Asia, 
Africa and Asia Minor, it was steadily losing terri- 
tory in Europe. Province after province had been 
breaking away. In 1878, the Congress of Berlin, 
following the Russo-Turkish War, recognised 
Servia, Bulgaria, Roumania and Greece as inde- 
pendent states, and handed over Bosnia and 
Herzegovina to Austrian administration. But in 
Macedonia, north of Constantinople, and in the 
city itself, there remained a large population of 
Slavs and Albanians, while Greeks inhabited the 
cities of the Levant and the islands, and Armenians 
cultivated the highlands of Asia Minor and worked 
in the big cities, and Jews were scattered every- 
where. So, when we speak of the Oriental women 


16 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


in this book, we mean the Turkish women, the 
Christian and Jewish subjects of Turkey and the 
citizens of the neighbouring states, many of which 
were but recently emancipated from Turkish rule. 

We may make the general statement concerning 
these women and girls that they all lived very 
secluded lives, with a common sense of inferiority 
to the men, and very few advantages of education 
or travel. The general attitude towards women in 
1876 was much the same, whether held by Turk, 
Greek or Slav. Woman as a free mate for man 
was not an Oriental conception. Of course there 
were differences of degree in the “ Oriental atti- 
tude,” and differences in the detail of women’s 
lives, but the general life was similar for all. 

Abdul Hamid II. came to the throne with a 
rooted fear of modernism and progress. He was 
keen enough to recognise that his throne was a 
medizval one and that he could keep it only by 
damming up progress. He feared the West, knock- 
ing at the door, and strove with all his puny might 
to keep it out. 

To him, women were merely toys. No woman 
ever influenced him,—neither mother nor wife nor 
daughter. Naturally he feared education, and for 
himself had never desired any. As a youth he dis- 
gusted his intelligent father by hating study, never 
learning to write or spell correctly nor even to 
speak refined Turkish. He was, however, skilled 
in accounts. Education throughout the empire was 


THE ORIENTAL GIRL 17 


at a very low ebb. Schools were few and inade- 
quate, and students were seldom allowed to study 
in foreign institutions. No one was allowed to 
travel even a few miles by train or by boat without 
a special passport, which might be refused and was 
usually delayed. There was scarcely a decent road 
in the country and transportation by rail or boat 
was entirely inadequate. People still rode about in 
wagons drawn by horses or oxen, not unlike our 
‘prairie schooners.” No Turkish subjects might 
leave the country to study or travel. 

Everything was censored. No books that men- 
tioned Turkey or Mohammedanism were allowed 
to enter the country, no physical apparatus was 
admitted to the schools. The press was muzzled 
and emasculated; few original books were allowed 
to be published, and towards the end of Abdul 
Hamid’s reign intercourse with Europeans was 
severely restricted. 

Once, at his suggestion, a European scholar 
planned a university for Constantinople and out- 
lined a course including history, philosophy and 
economics. But Abdul Hamid exclaimed, “ No, 
sir, such knowledge will be dangerous to my 
people; these subjects cannot be included in the 
program.” 

Steadily during his reign trade decreased and 
taxes increased. Modern machinery and the use 
of electricity were considered a menace by the 
Sultan. No Western methods were encouraged 


18 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


because of the general policy of obscurantism, a 
policy that held Moslem and Christian subject 
alike in the chains of ignorance. Great progress 
has been made in Turkey since then, but the reign 
of Abdul Hamid II. was a desert and a stagnation. 
Girls did, however, attend the primary mosque 
schools, and there was a so-called Normal School 
for women in Constantinople, while the Armenians 
and Greeks had a number of schools of their own. 

In the little countries that had just become free 
from Turkey, the same conditions prevailed at the 
start, but they quickly moved towards progress 
and enlightenment. In 1876, however, poverty, 
ignorance and recent oppression meant that there 
was very little education for either men or women. 
In the thirty years of the despot Abdul Hamid’s 
reign, there was no educational progress in Turkey. 
But in Servia, Bulgaria, Roumania and Greece an 
excellent start was made in national schooling. 

The strongest educational influence in these 
lands during the nineteenth century was exercised 
by the missionaries of the American Board, whose 
work began in Smyrna in 1820. The work of this 
Board and its missionaries was threefold—evangel- 
istic, medical and educational. The evangelistic 
work proved to have little effect on the Jews and 
Moslems, so was confined to the Eastern Chris- 
tians, but the medical and educational work grad- 
ually came to touch all the peoples of the Turkish 
empire. 


THE ORIENTAL GIRL 19 


Besides many translations of the Bible into the 
various Oriental tongues, hymnbooks and religious 
writings, school books and books of general infor- 
mation were circulated, and several journals were 
edited, which were a liberal education in them- 
selves to those who read them. Later, mission 
schools began to shed their light over the towns of 
Asia Minor, Bulgaria, and Albania. Servia and 
Roumania were not entered, and the work for the 
Greeks was confined to Greek subjects of the 
Empire. 

When the mission schools were first started, they 
were conducted in the language of the pupils, 
Greek or Bulgarian or Armenian, but it was gener- 
ally necessary to translate textbooks for them. An 
American missionary at the head of the school 
would be assisted by native teachers. The es- 
pecial need seemed to be high schools or colleges 
for the boys and any sort of schools for the 
girls, who had no other opportunity for learning 
whatever. 

Here, then, was the country and these the con- 
ditions into which Mary Mills Patrick entered to 
achieve her great work. 


II 


MARY MILLS PATRICK STARTS FOR THE 
NEAR EAST 


ARY MILLS PATRICK was. born in 
M Canterbury, New Hampshire, March 10, 
1850. Her parents were both from old 
New England families, but moved to Iowa soon 
after Mary’s birth. John Patrick, her father, was 
a farmer and pioneer, of strongly religious tenden- 
cies inherited from his father, who was an infiu- 
ential and beloved preacher in New Hampshire. 
At family prayers another interest was shown that 
came out very strongly later in Mary, namely, an 
aptitude for languages. It was the custom for 
the family of parents and four children to read 
verses from the Bible in turn in as many lan- 
guages as there were readers, sometimes six, 
including Greek, Latin, French and German. 
Whether the children each understood all six 
seems doubtful, but at least they early got the 
feeling for language. 

Mary’s thirst for knowledge came from her 
mother, Harriet White, who was very ambitious 
intellectually. Her sister, Frances White, was a 
professor in the Woman’s Medical College in 


20 


STARTS FOR THE NEAR EAST 21 


Philadelphia, and both women were greatly inter- 
ested in the education of girls. Mary was sent 
to an Iowan seminary called, rather ambitiously, 
Lyons College, where she graduated with honours. 
She was offered a scholarship at Vassar College, 
but was too proud to accept a free education. Her 
remarkable mentality was already noticeable. She 
was also strikingly ambitious, independent, and 
conscientious, and very religious. ys 

The family life on a farm was happy and loving, 
as the sterner New England characteristics were 
mollified by laughter and joking and even some 
teasing. This ability to see the sunny side of hard- 
ships and to be easily amused and often very 
humourous has been one of the charming traits of 
Mary Patrick throughout her life, and is also very 
characteristic of her distinguished brother, Pro- 
fessor G. T. W. Patrick, of the University of Iowa. 
Both thoroughly enjoy an unexpected and whim- 
sical turn of thought, and are equally capable of 
relishing a joke on themselves. 

When Mary Mills Patrick was twenty, she was 
a little above the average height, with curly, brown 
hair, soft, black eyes, a nose smaller than one 
would expect in one of her force of character, a 
smiling mouth, very supple hands, that were useful 
in dressmaking, cooking and all the household arts 
as well as effective on the piano, and a manner at 
once shy and eager. She had scarcely been away 
from the farm on which she lived except to attend 


22 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


school, and her knowledge of the world was largely 
an aching void. 

Then came the offer of the American Mission 
Board to send her to Turkey as a missionary. To 
a religious young woman, for whom the little West- 
ern town held no opportunity, this seemed the 
leading of God, and who dare say it was not? To 
her parents it was a shock, for Turkey was half- 
way around the world, and the journey thither was 
so long and uncertain that the family that said 
good-bye to a missionary-member scarcely ex- 
pected to see her again in this life. It took real 
heroism to embark on this career. The father 
escorted her as far as Chicago, and when Mary 
saw the last of his sad face, she had much ado to 
control her emotion, but turned eagerly to some 
blueberries that were being sold on the train, and 
tried to absorb herself in their consumption. 

The journey from Chicago to New York took 
several days in 1870. At that point Mary was put 
in the charge of a group of missionaries who were 
travelling to Persia, and was carefully chaperoned 
all the way. They sailed on a small vessel called 
the Wisconsin, which was fairly comfortable during 
the nine days of fine weather that were spent on 
board. The meals greatly impressed the youthful 
traveler, for they were served by a long line of 
waiters, each bringing in one dish which they 
deposited on the big tables all at once, the soup, 
roast, etc., to the dessert, so that the board literally 


STARTS FOR THE NEAR EAST —— 23 


groaned under their weight. This was attractive 
to Mary, who had the best of appetites all the way 
over. Then there was one wonderful day of sight- 
seeing in London and the long journey across the 
continent of Europe, in small shut-in compartments 
with no corridors as they have today, no “ diners,” 
and no “ sleepers.” One slept sitting upright, night 
after night, and rushed out at stations for one’s 
meals. 

At Varna the party took ship for Constantinople, 
with which city Mary was greatly impressed, little 
thinking that it was to be her home for much of 
her life. But this time the party went on, crossing 
the Black Sea, and then taking horses to the town 
of her destination, Erzeroum. From the port, 
Trebizond, one of the sultans had just laid an 
excellent road, so that for the first time travelers 
might ride into the interior without danger to life 
and limb. Mary had been on horseback just once 
before she had to undertake this long journey, but 
she had plenty of grit, and if her long European 
riding-skirt proved utterly inappropriate to Turk- 
ish traveling, why that was only one joke the more! 
The nights were spent in Oriental khans, whose 
hard beds on the floor, many fleas, and coarse, 
unleavened bread came as a shock to the fastidious 
American girl. But these things also she strove 
to regard as a joke. 

Thus, early in her new life, Mary had need to 
demonstrate that strain of iron beneath her pliable 


24 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


exterior that was to carry her through so many 
hardships and dangers in later life. It had hurt 
to leave her mother, who was unreconciled to her 
departure, and when, shortly after her arrival at 
Erzeroum, she learned of that mother’s death, she 
received a wound that left a permanent scar. But 
from that moment no other family or personal tie 
ever held her from complete devotion to her 
life-work. 

In Erzeroum, a straggling Armenian town, she 
was put into the girls’ school as a teacher. She 
had to learn the Armenian language, which she did 
with such quickness and perfection that she soon 
translated an English textbook into that tongue, 
and has never lost an easy mastery of the language. 
She spent four formative years in this hard, lonely 
work, and then, to her delight, was transferred to 
Constantinople to teach in the American High 
School. 


IIT 
A LITTLE CANDLE THROWS ITS GLEAM 


HE school to which Mary Mills Patrick was 
sent as a teacher was a new and interesting 
institution, the mother of the present Con- 

stantinople Woman’s College. It was started in 
this wise: 

Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel G. Clarke, in the inter- 
ests of American mission work, made a journey in 
the Turkish Empire in 1871-1872. There they 
saw a good many schools for boys, but they deeply 
felt the need for education for girls, to fit them for 
an enriched family and national life. On their 
return to the United States, they made zealous and 
successful efforts to stimulate interest in the work 
of education for the women of Turkey. 

Six women expressed their faith in this idea by 
contributing five hundred dollars each as a nest- 
egg for a suitable fund. One of these gifts was 
from Mrs. Richard Borden, of Boston, and her 
husband, wishing to associate his daughter Caro- 
line with this enterprise, added two hundred and 
fifty dollars in her name. Caroline Borden’s in- 
terest in the school, thus happily initiated, lasted 
until her death in 1922, and for many years she 


25 


26 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


was an active member of its Board of Trustees. 
From her unpublished memoirs we get many inter- 
esting details of the history of the American High 
School, as it was called. To quote her words: ‘“‘ By 
Divine alchemy fifty-eight thousand dollars of 
contributed American gold were converted into the 
coinage which provided the home for the school.” 

The original plan was to found a three-fold in- 
stitution doing medical, community service and 
educational work; but only the school materialised 
in that place, and its buildings were generally 
spoken of in friendly style as ‘‘ The Home.” 

The first and temporary site was in Gedik Pasha, 
a suburb of Stamboul. But, in 1876, the school 
was pleasantly housed in a new building named 
after its donor, Bowker Building, situated in Scu- 
tari. That land could be purchased there by 
Americans was due to the fact that Dr. Cyrus 
Hamlin, the first President of Robert College, a 
rising American college for Oriental men, on the 
Bosphorus, had, in 1875, secured a treaty by which 
citizens of the United States were given the right 
to hold real estate in the Turkish Empire. 

Constantinople is a city of great extent, lying 
along both shores of the Bosphorus, and skirting 
the Sea of Marmora. It is divided naturally into 
three great sections: old Constantinople, or Turkish 
Stamboul, cradled between the Marmora and the 
Golden Horn, with the ancient walls to mark its 
third boundary,—Pera-Galata, across the Golden 


HOS OLLVISV AEE ONINMOUD TVLOOS Nie SONIC IMG <aHi 








LITTLE CANDLE THROWS ITS GLEAM 27 


Horn, on the European shore of the Bosphorus,— 
and Scutari, which is the largest quarter on the 
Asiatic shore. Villages string along the two shores 
of the Straits like the tail of a comet, among them 
being Roumeli Hissar, where Robert College rises 
on its bluff, and Arnautkeuy, where sits the present 
Constantinople Woman’s College. 

Scutari figures in ancient history as Chrysopolis, 
the City of Gold. Just how it came by that name 
we do not know, but anyone who has looked from 
the water of a late afternoon and has seen the 
sun’s gold reflected in its hillside windows can see 
an appropriateness in the name. But within the 
town, alas, one finds dust and more dust with a 
lively insect life and a teeming population housed 
in grey, unpainted buildings. ‘‘ Nightingale Val- 
ley’ ends in the “ Bit Bazaar,” or Bug Market. 
The town runs up a slow hill, coming to a quarter 
occupied by pleasant summer palaces, and finally 
to a hill known as Chamladja, or Hill of the Pine, 
where one may obtain a view marvelous in extent 
and beauty. 

At the foot of this grey city once called the 
Golden, flows the broad, swift Bosphorus, with 
many a dancing boat and solid ship on its bosom. 
To the left the Sea of Marmora widens, cradling 
the Prince’s Isles, then extending beyond the gaze. 
On a fine day, however, the Asiatic Mount Olympus 
may be faintly distinguished on a distant shore. 
Across the Straits lies the City of Constantine, 


28 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


with the Old Seraglio at the point of the triangle 
and the ancient walls at its base. Just beyond the 
Seraglio on the first of the seven hills rises the 
superb dome of Aghia Sophia, the church of Holy 
Wisdom, now for five hundred years a Moham- 
medan mosque, as its aspiring minarets show. 
Each succeeding hill is crowned by a mosque 
except the fifth, in Pera-Galata, which is marked 
by the bold, round tower known as the Tower of 
Galata, built centuries ago by the Genoese colony 
on the Horn. One sees the Golden Horn like a 
silver ribbon winding between Stamboul and 
Galata. Along the water-front lie low white 
palaces and an occasional mosque. It is wonderful 
to view this panorama at sunset, when on the seven 
hills the mosques lift their minarets like white 
fingers, cutting sharply into the rose and golden 
sky. Miss Patrick was wont to say, somewhat 
whimsically, that occupying a front room with such 
an outlook ought to have a great effect on one’s 
character. 

The High School was situated about a mile from 
the water in an Armenian quarter, a little below 
the Turkish palaces. 

The first principal of the school was Mrs. Wil- 
liams, a woman, to quote Miss Borden, ‘‘ endowed 
with purity of character, serene dignity, a gracious 
and winning charm and a scholarly attitude, with 
keen discernment in comprehending specific neces- 
sities. She was just the woman to develop at the 


LITTLE CANDLE THROWS ITS GLEAM 29 


capital of the Ottoman Empire an educational in- 
stitution which would command the respect and 
secure the patronage of the better classes among 
the various nationalities, while maintaining a lofty 
purpose and character. Her previous experience 
in Turkey had given her especial qualifications fo 
this work. Mrs. Williams declared her business in 
this school to be to ‘teach the Bible and how t 
live by it.’ ” 

When Mrs. Williams came to the High School, 
all the teaching was done in Armenian, and the 
boarding students numbered eighteen Armenian 
girls. Mrs. Williams knew that the original con- 
ception of the founders of the school was that it 
was to be for all the girls of the Near East, but this 
end was defeated by having the language of the 
school Armenian. Therefore, coming into the 
school in November, by New Year’s, on moving 
into the new building, she changed the language of 
the school to English and declared that as many ex- 
aminations as possible should be conducted in Eng- 
lish the following June. Dr. Patrick states, today, 
that the whole policy and tone of the school and 
later college was established by that remarkable 
woman, Kate Pond Williams. It is very difficult to 
decide where her inspiration ends and Dr. Patrick’s 
begins, but it seems to be plain that the two women 
have worked out the life of this institution in per- 
fect harmony. 

Miss Patrick became a very busy teacher, hold- 


30 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


ing classes in Ancient Armenian grammar, as well 
as in algebra and geometry and physics, all taught 
in the Armenian language, and also several courses 
in English. A year or two after she entered the 
school, Clara Hamlin, daughter of Dr. Cyrus Ham- 
lin, also came, and when Mrs. Williams went to 
America, they together administered the school, 
becoming co-principals on the retirement of Mrs. 
Williams. 

Just before Mrs. Williams left, a second building 
called Barton Hall was erected in Scutari and 
joined to Bowker Building by a corridor. This 
was the gift of William C. Chapin, and cost the 
then splendid sum of $20,000.00. For thirty years 
the American school and, later, college, was housed 
in these two buildings, with the gradual addition of 
old Turkish buildings near by. They were solidly 
and well built. 

The visitor entered the grounds by a yellow 
gateway guarded, as was the custom and need of 
all foreign properties, by a gaily-dressed and armed 
Croat guard, and walked up an alley. Passing 
under an arch of beautiful yellow roses, in their 
season, and past a fragrant bed of violets, he con- 
tinued a gentle climb to the wistaria-draped porch 
of Bowker Building. If he cared to walk about 
the modest garden, he could admire the south wall 
of the building, completely covered by vines of 
roses, multiflora and honeysuckle, and he could 
look at the little, round holly trees in front, the 


LITTLE CANDLE THROWS ITS GLEAM 31 


row of fine stone pines that bounded the so-called 
Girls’ Garden, and the hedge of flame-coloured 
“Syrian roses” that separated this garden from 
that of the teachers. 

In the back was the playground, and the fig and 
mulberry trees whose fruit attracted the girls who 
could climb, and the almond tree, whose pink blos- 
soms flamed in their dark hair in the spring. 

Over the door to the drawing room of Bowker 
Building hung the motto, ‘‘ This house for God.” 

Bowker Building contained, in the basement, the 
kitchens, presided over by Armenian or Montene- 
grin cooks, and the group of low, sunny dining 
rooms. On the first floor were the parlours, offices, 
the study-hall, and the library, as well as a few 
class-rooms. ‘The second floor held the faculty 
bed-rooms and two dormitories. 

Barton Hall contained a gymnasium in the base- 
ment and some laboratories, an auditorium used for 
chapel and other exercises, theatricals, etc., and 
class-rooms on the first floor, and bedrooms and 
dormitories on the second and third floors. 

These buildings provided all the necessities of 
a progressive school, but they would seem very ill- 
equipped to an American school of today. 

They were heated by stoves. The consequence 
was that one had always to carry a wrap as one 
walked through the cold corridors from class-room 
to dining-room or elsewhere, and if a teacher left 
her room long, she had to sit on the floor and coax 


32 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


a new fire upon her return to her cold chamber. 
The rooms were lighted by oil-lamps and occasional 
candles. The oil was coarse and hard to manage in 
American lamps so that a lamp left to itself was 
likely to “run up” and blacken the room in the 
absence of its occupant. 

Bathing was managed with some difficulty. In 
the basement there were some little rooms fur- 
nished with small, round, tin tubs for Christian 
girls, or just faucets for Moslem girls; for no Mos- 
lem will wash in any but running water. At one 
time there were not enough of these rooms for all 
the girls to bathe of a week-end, so tubs were 
placed in the halls just outside of the little rooms. 
This led to the oddly-worded notice posted on a 
bulletin board: “‘ A and B and C, etc., to bathe 
inside and C and D and E to bathe outside at 
eight-thirty.”” There was one small bath-room for 
the teachers in Bowker Building, but those in Bar- 
ton Hall, when they desired a bath, had to call 
down the dumb waiter, ‘‘ Syjak sou istiorum,” 
that is, ‘“‘ I want hot water,” and either old Milo 
or young Bogos would presently toil up-stairs laden 
with Standard Oil tins full of boiling water to be 
dumped into a little tin tub in the bed-room. 

The first laboratory was very primitive, and the 
library was entirely housed in one small room. 

The table, managed in the days of the High 
School by Armenian housekeepers, was a pleasing 
combination of Oriental and American food. The 


LITTLE CANDLE THROWS ITS GLEAM 33 


girls had for breakfast only coffee and a roll, but 
the teachers’ separate table had cereal, marmalade 
or even eggs. Lunch and dinner the faculty took 
with the girls, at least one teacher sitting at each 
table, and three of the girls serving. Luncheon 
was an Oriental meal, consisting of one central 
dish, such as prunes stewed with small pieces of 
meat, or quince prepared the same way, or vege- 
tables stuffed with rice, or once a week fish and 
potatoes or pilaff, rice cooked in stock. This was 
followed by fruits in season or a simple sweet dish, 
such as ‘“ yogurt,” the fermented milk dish so 
widely advertised at present in America, or mahal- 
abee, a dish of powdered rice eaten with rose water 
or cinnamon. Dinner, with soup, meat and pota- 
toes or pilaff and vegetables and dessert, was more 
American. 

Fruits are plentiful and delicious in Turkey, 
from Casaba melons and purple and blue figs to 
Smyrna oranges and Tchausch grapes. Vegetables 
are varied and luscious, and each is cooked in sev- 
eral attractive styles, one characteristically Ori- 
ental fashion being cooked in oil and served cold. 

The girls whom the slight breakfast left hungry 
might have bread and olives or fruit in the middle 
of the morning, at an informal meal that they 
called, in Lewis Carroll style, “brunch.” To the 
teachers no meal was so attractive in the day as 
afternoon tea. That was served after school was 
over, in a dining-room up-stairs, by. Hozanna, the 


34 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


Madonna-eyed Armenian maid. She presided over 
a huge brass samovar. To this meal many guests 
used to drop in, when the roads were not impas- 
sable, and the surprise of homesick travelers from 
America to be greeted with a plate of sponge-cake 
or of doughnuts, “ like mother used to make,” was 
pleasant to watch. At this hour came the one mail 
of the day, brought over from the Bible House in 
Stamboul by our private “ postagee.”” So, reading 
their home letters, occasionally greeting American 
friends, while munching a doughnut, the American 
teachers forgot how many strange miles separated 
them from their familiar world. 

The American High School in Constantinople, 
according to Miss Borden, was not established as 
a mission school of the missionary Boards. 

Secretary N. G. Clarke stated in writing: ‘“‘ The 
missionary Boards would never have thought of 
expending on one school from money contributed 
for evangelistic work the amount of money re- 
quired for the American High School.” 

Concerning this matter Miss Borden says 
further: 


‘‘ As the school was located in a precinct of the 
work of the American Board of Foreign Missions, 
designated as the Western Turkey Mission, a 
committee of this mission was appointed as trus- 
tees for the school. Dr. Wood has stated that by 
a vote of the Western Turkey Mission the name 
of American Christian High School was continued. 


LITTLE CANDLE THROWS ITS GLEAM 35 


Mrs. Williams stated that her reports were never 
made to the Missionary Board as was the case 
with mission schools of the Board. When this 
American High School was founded, Dr. N. G. 
Clarke, as Foreign Secretary of the American 
Board, had its work in Turkey thoroughly sys- 
tematised. The American Board, in enlarging its 
work to include Japan, sent Dr. Clarke to that 
country. At this time Dr. Judson Smith was 
elected Secretary of the American Board, with his 
field to include Turkey, and Mrs. Judson Smith 
was elected president of the Woman’s Auxiliary of 
of the American Board, known as the Woman’s 
Board of Missions. By the action of Dr. and 
Mrs. Smith, the American High School lost its 
independence and was made subservient to the 
Mission Boards.” 


The High School gradually raised its academic 
standards under the inspiring guidance of Mrs. 
Williams, Miss Hamlin and Miss Patrick. ‘The 
arrival of Miss Patrick gave a great impulse to the 
school. Her unusual mental ability and attain- 
ments were quickly recognized, the caressing com- 
ment being passed along,—‘‘ Our Patty is bril- 
liant.” On the marriage of Miss Hamlin to Mr. 
Lee, of Marash, she became sole principal of the 
school, and from that time on it bore the stamp of 
her thought and vision. 

When the school was started in the cosmopolitan 
city of Constantinople, circulars were sent out to 
the citizens in several languages—Turkish, Armen- 


36 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


ian, Bulgarian, Greek, English and French. But 
the students who responded were largely Armen- 
ians, and mostly Protestant. Before we go on to 
consider the cosmopolitan growth of the school, let 
us glance at these Armenian women who formed 
the greater part of the student body of the Ameri- 
can High School. 


IV 
SOME ARMENIAN SCHOOLGIRLS 


S students, the Armenians differ among 
themselves, ranging all the way from dense 
stupidity to brilliance, but averaging high 

in their intelligence. Of the three students who 
distinguished themselves in philosophy in a dozen 
years, one was Turkish, one was Greek and one 
was Armenian. In English composition, while per- 
haps the cleverest and most humourous papers 
were written by Greeks, and the stories with most 
action, by Bulgarians, those showing the most 
grace and fancy were written by Armenians. Ori- 
ental girls rarely enjoy mathematics, but several 
Armenian students have done splendidly in this 
study, and one Armenian so craved mathematics 
that the professor in that department had to form 
special classes to give her all that an advanced 
American college offers. 

The college chorus and choir always contained 
many Armenians, and in my day the special soloist 
on all occasions was an Armenian, who sang like a 
bird with natural style. She has since then studied 
in Paris and become a professional singer. An- 
other girl with a lovely voice is now in New York, 


37 


38 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


where she gives delightful recitals of Armenian and 
other Oriental songs. 

The Armenians are very effective in tableaux, 
and often have real dramatic ability. They have 
taken in school such varied réles as the King in 
the Sanscrit play, Sakuntala, and the piquant Toin- 
ette in Le Malade Imaginaire. . 

Armenian women are full of sentiment and emo- 
tion, and unless they have been repressed by harsh 
experience, they are unrestrained in expression. 
When the news of the death of a schoolmate 
reached one of our dormitories, the girls wept and 
even screamed with such abandon that one of them 
became actually ill and had to be sent home. Yet 
under torture and persecution these women have 
shown marvelous patience and endurance. 

Where there is so vigourous a national pride, 
some personal conceit would naturally follow. 
That is not always the case, some of the most 
modest and humble of women have been among 
our Armenian students; but a characteristic ex- 
pression of complacency that one often hears is, 
“‘ He is a fine man, he likes me.” 

In the days of the High School there was no 
feminism among the Armenian women. Their 
marriages were arranged, they obeyed their hus- 
bands and never questioned them; they took no 
interest in public affairs. Sometimes in the big 
cities the Armenian ladies were active in charitable 
work, but that was all the civic work open to them. 


SOME ARMENIAN SCHOOLGIRLS 39 


They had no desire for economic independence, but 
were thoroughly Oriental in their relation to the 
family. 

No account of the school would be complete 
without mention of Hozanna, faithful servant for 
forty years. Dear Hozanna, of the beatific name, 
the Madonna eyes and the ample bosom, who gave 
““my teachers,” as she called them, the home feel- 
ing, who sent them off for their vacations with the 
phrase, ‘Go with smiling,” and welcomed them 
back with soft words of greeting. After a brief 
and unsatisfactory marriage in her youth, Hozanna 
has given all the rest of her life and devoted service 
to the Americans. 

Into the soil of the historic land of Asia Minor 
the Armenians have thrust deep roots. No com- 
paratively brief civilisation is theirs, dating back 
to Mayflower or even Norman Conquest, but one 
that is almost coterminous with recorded history; 
and every Armenian feels behind him this vast 
antiquity, giving him dignity and great national 
pride. They begin their history with the Garden 
of Eden, which they claim was in Armenia, basing 
their claim on the naive statement that the land is 
beautiful enough to have included Paradise, and 
also laughingly asserting that the apples of Ar- 
menia were worthy to tempt the most epicurean 
of Eves. Their first recorded ancestors they find 
in the Book of Genesis. 

The appearance of the Armenians is definitely 


40 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


Eastern; swarthy, heavy-haired, black-eyed, with 
aquiline features, they look more Oriental than 
Turk, Slav or Greek. In general type they come 
nearer to the Jews than to any other people, shar- 
ing with them the strongly-marked features, promi- 
nent nose, and near-set eyes, as well as some 
gestures that we think of as Jewish. The type is 
so pronounced that to those who are akin to them 
they seem often very handsome, while to Western- 
ers they seem a little too foreign-looking. Of 
course the type is not always preserved; white 
skins, even an occasional rosy cheek may be seen, 
and there is a small number of fair-haired and 
blue-eyed Armenians. 

The resemblance to the Jews does not stop with 
physical features, for the fate of the two peoples 
has been sufficiently similar to bring out common 
traits. Like the Jew, the Armenian has been op- 
pressed and persecuted, and has developed a 
strength of nationality, a love for his own people, 
and a persistence of type rarely seen elsewhere. 
Like the Jew, he has learned to bend, not break, 
before oppression and to succeed by artifice when 
opposed by force. How else has he survived? 
Like the Jew, he has developed strong busi- 
ness instincts, and like him he has a talent for 
languages, a power of concentration and unusual 
artistic gifts. Both Jews and Armenians are very 
clever actors. 

These resemblances have made many scholars 


SOME ARMENIAN SCHOOLGIRLS 4) 


question whether the two races are not akin; 
whether the Armenians may not be descended from 
the lost ten tribes of Israel. But the philological 
basis for such an hypothesis is lacking, and the 
Armenians and their language are adjudged not to 
be Semitic, but Aryan. 

The Armenian Church was founded by Gregory 
the Illuminator a few years before the Council of 
Nicea, and is, therefore, the oldest of the Christian 
churches. It differs from the Greek Church very 
little, but unlike the Greeks, the Armenians are 
not theological and lay very little stress on 
doctrines. They have always, however, been de- 
votedly Trinitarian. 

The Armenian Church was persecuted not only 
by Moslem and by Fire-worshipper, but also by 
Roman and Greek, yet it is one of the beautiful 
characteristics of this ancient Church that it has 
never persecuted in its turn. The music and cere- 
monies are very primitive, dating back to a time 
when the courtyards of the churches were the dra- 
matic centers of the parishes, and moral and spir- 
itual lessons were taught through simple drama. 
Such services as those of Holy Week, observed 
even in our time, illustrate this. For instance, the 
washing of the disciples’ feet and the literal rais- 
ing of figures of Jesus by pulleys up the height of 
a tower. Armenians love their Church devotedly, 
and say that although they may get more instruc- 
tion from a Protestant sermon, their own services 


42, AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


seem to them warmer, touching their emotions and 
helping them. The centre of this church is at 
Etchmiadzin in the Caucasus Mountains, where 
lives the ‘‘ Catholicos.” 

But the Gregorians of Turkey were long repre- 
sented at the Porte by a “ Patriarch,” the head of 
the Gregorian “ millet ” or administrative division 
of Turkey, and the representative of the Armenian 
people. When Protestant Armenian churches 
began to arise, their members lost in a sense their 
nationality, and became a part of the Protestant 
_--millet. The early students in the High School were 
. largely Protestants, the products of the American 

missions, and these girls throughout the history of 

the institution have been distinguished for excel- 

~ Jent characters and influence. But later, Gregor- 
ian Armenians entered the college in still greater 
numbers, coming from rich and cultured families 
of the city and from Roumania and Russia. 

The history of Armenia may here be briefly 
traced. 

Emerging from tradition, a distinct Armenian 
people appears about 1000 B. c. near Ararat. Hav- 
ing no natural boundaries, the state was seldom 
independent, but was subjugated in turn by Baby- 
lonia, the Seleucide and the Romans. The ancient 
Oriental idea of conquest left, however, a good 
chance of national development. The Armenians 
boast of a proud culture and lines of noble kings. 

It is in the early Middle Ages that we, in the 


SOME ARMENIAN SCHOOLGIRLS 43 


West, call ‘dark ” but that in the Near East was 
a period of great culture, that Armenia attained its 
highest position. In the year 310 a. p. Krikor, or 
Gregory the Illuminator, founded the Church that 
became the bulwark of Christianity in the East. 
The mummied hand of St. Gregory is still laid on 
the head of every bishop at his consecration, thus 
carrying on the most perfect apostolic succession 
in the world. The glories of independent Armenia, 
Christianised and literary, soon passed. In the 
ninth century they were conquered by the Turks. 

The races might long ago have blended, for they 
are not temperamentally antagonistic, but on the 
contrary, well fitted to be friends, but the two 
clashing religions, each claiming the world for its 
kingdom, could never be reconciled. 

Turkey governed very well, as governments 
went, in the first centuries of her rule, and the 
Armenians were not unhappy. They were not ad- 
mitted to the army, but paid a head-tax, and many 
of their men clever in finance became advisers to 
royalty. The “ Armenian Question ” arose when 
Russia appeared on the stage and the European 
Powers began to interfere with Turkey’s internal 
economy. 

The Armenians boast of a Golden Age in litera- 
ture, when for a brief half-century, about 500 a. p., 
their writers burst into poetry and song, leaving a 
precious heritage to their descendants. This period 
was ushered in by Saint Mesrob, who took the 


44, AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


limited Armenian alphabet and perfected it to ex- 
press the Armenian language. It has thirty letters, 
many of them looking like our U’s, either inverted 
or lying on their sides. The Armenian language is 
rich, but harsh and guttural. The Armenians have 
a sense of style and a flow of language that often 
makes for oratory and fine writing. Many of the 
Armenian students in the American College were 
conspicuous in composition classes. 

The experiences of the Armenians in Turkey 
from the accession of Abdul Hamid II. to the 
forming of the Republic is too well known and 
too tragic to tell here. In the young girls at school 
could there be found any reflection of the tragedy 
of the race? Yes, there could; although many an 
Armenian girl of prosperous family was as gay 
and light-hearted as a French girl. Let me tell of 
a few of them: 

Zabelle was a sparkling girl with jet-black hair 
and shining eyes and teeth. She was delightfully 
responsive in class, although her quick appreci- 
ation was rather shallow. Her father was high in 
Turkish favour, and she had apparently no con- 
sciousness of her people’s sufferings. 

Nouvart was another happy girl, but of quite a 
different type. She was small and plump, and 
maintained a position at the head of her class only 
by constant hard work. One would never associate 
her with tragedy in the remotest way. But when, 
in 1908, people’s tongues were loosed, the press 


SOME ARMENIAN SCHOOLGIRLS A5 


freed, and people seemed to wish to express their 
long pent-up emotions, Nouvart wrote a composi- 
tion. She began in her clear round hand,—*“ I 
have always wanted to tell about my cousin, 
Mesrob, but I did not dare; now I can speak.” 
And there followed a horrible tale of persecution, 
torture and death inflicted on an apparently inno- 
cent young man under the old régime. 

One of the sweetest souls in college was Ferideh. 
She was a Protestant from one of the mission 
schools in Cilicia. She was older than most of the 
girls, a woman in character and suffering. She 
was very delicate in health and unconsciously ap- 
pealing, and absurdly grateful for any little thing 
that was done for her. Her appreciation of beauty 
was very great. One day she was taken, with a 
class of girls, to see the wondrous mosque Aghia 
Sophia. She wandered off by herself and when 
found was sitting quietly wiping the tears from 
her eyes, because it was “so beautiful.” Ferideh 
was one of three girls who came from the district 
of Adana, where the massacres took place in the 
spring of 1909, the last cruelty of Abdul Hamid. 
For several days these girls were given a separate 
place to eat and sit while waiting for news of their 
loved ones. One day a teacher met Ferideh in the 
corridor and uttered a light word. The girl’s face 
stopped her, and she asked quickly, ‘‘ Bad news, 
Ferideh? ” She made a pitiful attempt at self- 
control, then said, ‘“‘ Oh, Teacher, eleven of them! ” 


46 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


and despite the respect that keeps an Oriental girl 
from familiarities with a teacher, she threw her 
arms around the woman’s neck and wept. 

Hripsemeh was a strangely individualised girl, 
the product of suffering. One would not have 
thought it to see her in school, eager to learn, 
docile, appreciative of all little gaieties, patient in 
her poverty and humiliation. She was scarcely 
over fifteen years old, a preparatory student, but 
her compositions revealed an embittered and dis- 
illusioned heart. On the day of the battle, April, 
1909, Hripsemeh ran off to join the Red Cross. 
When she was asked if her mother knew, she 
shrugged her shoulders and said, “‘ My father gave 
his life for revolution; why should I try to 
save mine? ” 

Many of the Armenian graduates of this school 
have become teachers, some of them returning to 
the mission schools of the interior. A few in time 
taught in their Alma Mater. Baidzar Dayan, who 

raduated in 1897, was a very brilliant student, 
and became at first an assistant in the Armenian 
department of the college, and later, head of the 
department. When the Preparatory School left 
the Armenian town of Scutari and crossed the 
Bosphorus, Miss Dayan took one of the old build- 
ings and built up an excellent day fitting school, 
taking the girls that had been day scholars in the 
Preparatory School and could not afford to be- 
come boarders in Arnautkeuy. This school had 


SOME ARMENIAN SCHOOLGIRLS A7 


grown to have about a hundred pupils when Miss 
Dayan died, in 1918. 

Surpigh Vosquemadn, class of 1889, was the first 
Turkish subject to become a trained nurse, and 
Zarouhi Kavaljian, class of 1898, was the first 
Armenian woman to study medicine. 

A particularly lovely piece of work done by an 
Armenian graduate, was what we called our “ col- 
lege settlement.”” Mianzareh Kapriellian gradu- 
ated from the High School in 1880. After she left 
school, she took one of the very pleasant teaching 
positions in an American school in Asia Minor. 
But, one day, she became dissatisfied with her soft 
work, for she heard from a visiting missionary a 
story that moved her deeply. It was of a tiny 
Armenian village, stranded in an out-of-the-way 
corner of Asia Minor, where the people lived in a 
terribly primitive state. They were her people, 
and she could not sleep in her pretty bed-room 
until she had decided to go to them and help them. 

So she made her difficult way to Chalgara, the 
stranded village. Of course there was no inn in 
the place, so she was put up, (or rather, down, for 
her bed was a mattress on the floor) by one of the 
village families. She found herself in a room dirt- 
ier than she had ever seen before. Every instinct 
revolted. The next morning she arose and girded 
herself for toil, and this refined, educated lady 
scrubbed the unspeakable floor and thus gave her 
first lesson to the wondering women of Chalgara. 


48 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


It was only the Alpha of cleanliness to be fol- 
lowed as soon as possible by other letters. The 
church she found to be almost as dirty as the 
houses. Expressing her disgust, she gathered to- 
gether a corps of women and set them to making 
the edifice decent. She was, naturally, more than 
a nine days’ wonder to the Chalgarites, who gaped 
at her neat black dress, her smooth hair, and es- 
pecially the dainty white collar and cuffs that 
she wore. They themselves had been sewed tightly 
into blouse and bloomers since the beginning of 
the season. Their many tight braids of hair had 
not been unplaited sometimes for years. It was a 
marvel to them when she took down her smooth 
hair, combed and brushed it, and then recoiled it 
neatly on her head. She also showed them all her 
apparel and how it came off and on. Such object 
lessons were followed by classes in cutting, sewing 
and donning of clothes. The women of Chalgara 
began to prink. 

At the first possible moment she built a house 
for herself. She planned it and supervised the 
work. The result was a building of unparalleled 
splendour, to the Chalgara mind. It had a wooden 
floor and doors and windows. No chimney, of 
course, but a pipe coming through a window car- 
ried out the smoke. There were no partitions in 
it, but each corner was a separate room, from 
which radiated education to the people of Chal- 
gara. In one corner was the oven, and here les- 


SOME ARMENIAN SCHOOLGIRLS 49 


sons in cooking and the clean preparation of food 
were given; in another corner was the bed, a model 
of neatness and daintiness; in the third was a 
bench and stools, with the Bible and spelling-book, 
where the children were taught letters and religion, 
and the fourth corner was a living-room. 

The money for her living Miss Kapriellian 
begged from friends and from the American Col- 
lege for Girls. The students of the latter felt that 
Chalgara was their college settlement and gladly 
took up annual collections for the work. This 
fragile-appearing lady made very light of the hard- 
ships of her life. When asked what she had to eat 
in Chalgara, she replied cheerfully: ‘‘Oh, we have 
plenty of eggs.” 

‘“* Meat? ” one asked. 

“No, they don’t often kill animals.” 

‘ Vegetables? ”’ 

‘Only two kinds, but plenty of eggs.” 

“How about milk? ” 

“Well, there is really no milk, but,” and she 
smiled with luminous tolerance, “‘ there are plenty 
of eggs.” 

She did not, however, rest with such a menu. 
She began by showing the men vegetables to plant. 
Then she bought a cow. Oh, that cow! How 
the people gathered about it to see her milk it; and 
what good cheese and butter she made. In a short 
time Chalgara had a small but flourishing dairy 
industry. 


50 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


Mianzareh Kapriellian became quite naturally 
the confidante of the women and straightened out 
many a domestic difficulty for them. One bride 
came to her with a financial problem to solve. 
Should she turn over her private fortune to her 
husband, or would it be right to keep it for an 
emergency? Inquiry discovered that the fortune 
amounted to two dollars and forty-three cents! 
Miss Kapriellian assured her that she would be 
justified in keeping it. 

Years later, this story was a great inspiration in 
the formation of a home economics department in 
the college. 


V 
THE VISION OF MARY MILLS PATRICK 


HEN that enthusiastic young missionary, 

Mary Mills Patrick, came to the High 

School, she brought with her some experi- 

ence with Orientals, a wide sympathy, consider- 

able scholarship, a little pedagogy and an optimism 

and vision that were to find expression in the up- 
building of a unique institution. 

Doing her daily work, which was by no means 
light, she conceived her big idea, the realisation of 
which was to fill her life. That idea was, to trans- 
form the modest mission school into a great inter- 
national college. 

And she has done it! 

The traveler who passes through the Bosphorus 
and sees the splendid white buildings that crown 
the hill above the European village of Arnaut- 
keuy, would be amazed to realise that this had 
evolved from the American High School in Asiatic 
Scutari. 

As she taught her willing pupils, she began to 
dream. She could look across the Bosphorus to the 
European railroad that led to Vienna, and she 
could look up the hill behind her to the long road 


51 


52 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


that wound to Bagdad. To the south the Marmora 
led to the Great Sea and out into the modern world, 
while to the north the Bosphorus flowed to the 
Black Sea. This centre of the world, this great 
strategic point, was no place for a little school 
mainly for Armenian girls. It was the fitting site 
for a great international college. 

When Mary Mills Patrick came to Constanti- 
nople, the forces of nationalism were very strong. 
From the Ottoman Empire Servia, Bulgaria, Rou- 
mania and Greece had broken away, while Albania 
was conducting her unique campaign for a national 
alphabet and culture. The Pan-Turanian move- 
ment was beginning to make the Turks very race- 
conscious. Furthermore, fierce jealousies burned 
among the various Slavic peoples. It took a hardy, 
hopeful soul to envisage a harmonious international 
group at this point of friction. In the history of 
American missions, moreover, the time had come 
when the American-trained Orientals had been 
pushed from the parent churches and Protestant 
cults had been formed, and inter-religious feeling 
ran higher than it ever had before or has since 
then. But here, in the girls’ school, a policy of 
respect for all religion, of disregard for differences 
of liturgy and form, a recognition of the historical 
and ethical roots of the three great monotheistic 
religions of the Near East, was developed and 
taught. Mary Mills Patrick was a religious, as \ 
well as an educational pioneer. 


VISION OF MARY MILLS PATRICK = 58 


The materials for an international college were 
unpromising enough. The school had one building 
holding some thirty Armenian girls, who were re- 
ceiving a primary and secondary education under 
the auspices of the American Woman’s Board. 
These pupils paid a modest tuition fee, which, with 
funds from America, provided missionary salaries 
for the teachers. The American instructors, in- 
cluding the principal, received one hundred 
Turkish liras, then worth four hundred and forty 
dollars, a year, out of which a small board was to 
be paid and all necessities provided. The teach- 
ers were drawn from the mission-field, for no 
other Americans would come into such untoward 
conditions. 

But the ill-paid missionary material was often 
very good. Among the early teachers in the High 
School were some strong, cultured and able women. 
Notable among them for long, devoted and efficient 
services are two who deserve special mention,— 
Isabel Frances Dodd and Ida Woods Prime. 
These two women, both of American missionary 
stock, joined the staff of the High School shortly 
after Miss Patrick, and are both there still. 

Miss Prime was not an instructor, but was in 
turn housekeeper, manager, bookkeeper and as- 
sistant treasurer. She was so indispensable to the 
school that on one occasion a teacher in recogni- 
tion of the fact presented her with a diploma as 
‘“‘mainspring of the college.” Her level head, un- 


54 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


tiring industry and consecrated character have 
made Miss Prime one of the strongest influences in 
the life of the school. 

Isabel Frances Dodd is the daughter of a med- 
ical missionary who fell a victim to the cholera 
that he was combating in Smyrna. She was edu- 
cated in America, graduating from an Ohio semi- 
nary, which later bestowed on her an honourary 
degree. Enthusiastic, devoted to the school, of 
unusual personal charm, with a love of the antique 
that has developed into archeological scholarship, 
she has been a popular and efficient teacher. 

Another of the early American professors was 
Flora A. Fensham, who was for years teacher of 
the Bible and Ethics in the High School, and the 
first dean of the College, serving from 1890 to 
1905. During this time she studied in the Chicago 
Theological Seminary, taking the degree of Bach- 
elor of Divinity. She died in the United States a 
few years after leaving the college. She was an 
influential, gifted and greatly loved member of the 
faculty. 

A part of Miss Patrick’s plan was to raise the 
| Standard of scholarship among her teachers and 
| bring to the school women from the colleges and 
/ universities of America. A natural step was per- 

sonal study to gain for herself a higher degree. 

or several summers she went to Europe for study 
and finally, after a year’s absence, she took the 
degree of Doctor of Philosophy magna cum laude 


VISION OF MARY MILLS PATRICK 55 


from the University of Berne, her major subjects 
being Greek and Philosophy. Her doctoral dis- 
sertation on ‘‘Sextus Empiricus and Greek 
Scepticism” was ranked by German scholars as 
authoritative on the subject. Her reappearance in 
Constantinople in her doctor’s robes created quite 
a stir and gained her much prestige among the Ori- 
entals, who respect both learning and insignia. Dr. 
Patrick kept up her Greek studies as well as her 
strenuous life permitted. In 1912, she published a 
monograph on Sappho, with whose career as a 
Greek feminist she was much in sympathy. She 
also kept up her philosophical studies, attending 
and reading papers at international congresses in 
Munich, Paris and Bologna. She taught philos- 
ophy and psychology in the school as soon as she 
could introduce those studies into the curriculum. 
She is an accomplished linguist, knowing German 
well enough to take her doctorate in that lan- 
guage, French well enough to conduct delicate 
business negotiations in that tongue, Armenian 
almost perfectly, Greek, ancient and modern, like 
a scholar, and Turkish well enough to converse 
intelligently and agreeably in it. But Dr. Pat- 
rick was the most impressive feature of the 
school, The equipment, for many years after she 
became principal, was pathetic. Miss Borden thus 
describes it: 


‘“‘ A few hundred books arranged in a room with 


56 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


the name ‘ Library’ on the door constituted this 
aid to learning; a small gallery containing a moiety 
of scientific apparatus was labelled Science Hall; 
a room in the basement was converted into the 
semblance of a biological laboratory; another 
basement room where girls attired in loose flannel 
costumes performed evolutions was called the 
gymnasium; a table with a few palettes and some 
pencils and brushes and a roll of drawing-paper 
constituted the art department; there were a few 
pianos for piano study.” 


The courses of study were modelled on the 
American high schools, and as well carried out as 
the irregular preparation of the students, the im- 
perfect equipment, and the Oriental conditions per- 
mitted. In addition to the academic courses, there 

? were extra-curricular activities that were very im- 
_portant in blending the students. Musical recitals 
and social receptions were held. A student gov- 
erning association was organised under the super- 
vision of the faculty, a great innovation in an 
Oriental school. A missionary society was organ- 
ised in which the enthusiastic interest of the stu- 
dents contributed money for the education of a girl 
in Mrs. Gulick’s school in Spain, for the work of 
Pundita Ramabai in India, and for suffering people 
in Constantinople. Sunday services were con- 
ducted by members of the faculty or by visiting 
clergy and local missionaries in the audience room 
of Barton Hall, where were also held commence- 


VISION OF MARY MILLS PATRICK 57 


ment exercises, concerts, lectures and theatrical 
performances. 

Another point that engaged Dr. Patrick’s ear- 
nest thought was the following: In the interna- 
tional school of her dreams, what students should 
there be besides the studious Armenians? Greeks, 
of course. But at that time no teacher in the 
school knew modern Greek. Nothing daunted, 
Mary Mills Patrick began the study of modern 
Greek. One summer was spent in a miserable 
Greek village where she could not be tempted to 
use one word of English. She returned to her 
work with a disturbed digestion but with a tri- 
umphant knowledge of the baffling Greek accents. 
Then she did a little publicity, and lo, the first 
Greek girls began to enter the school. They have 
been an important part of the student membership 
ever since. 

On the opposite shore of the Bosphorus stood 
friendly Robert College, whose success with Ori- 
ental young men was a continual stimulus to the 
High School. As this college had already done a 
splendid work among the Bulgarians, Dr. Patrick 
decided to add to the number of Bulgarians already 
in her school. Miss Dodd was sent to Bulgaria to 
learn the language and interest students. Since 
that time Bulgarian students have been numerous 
in the upper classes, and the college is now affili- 
ated with both national gymnasia and American 
schools in Bulgaria. 


58 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


It would seem as if in Turkey the most natural 
students would be Turkish girls, but owing to the 
reactionary government of Sultan Abdul Hamid 
II., very few Turks could study in foreign schools 
at that time. In a few years the school became 
international, drawing its students of some eight- 
een nationalities from Asia Minor, the shores 
of the Black Sea, Greece and the Greek Islands, 
Russia, and the Balkan States. Some of the girls 
showed a curious mixture of nationality in them- 
selves,—as Anglo-Greek Noemi, who came from 
Russia, Austro-French Angele from Constanti- 
nople, Italo-Roumanian Marie, Germano-Arab 
Djemeli, and Russo-German Martha. One Persian 
girl from a mission school surprised us by begin- 
ning a composition, ‘‘ I am the niece by alliance of 
the Shah of Persia.” All social classes came to be 
represented in the school, the daughter of the proud 
pasha and the distinguished general studying ami- 
cably with the child of the wash woman or the 
plumber. In this way the school became a training 
in democracy as well as in internationalism. 

In the summer of 1889, Miss Patrick went to 
America, and in conference with Mrs. Williams, 
her predecessor, and Miss Borden, the most zeal- 
ous of her trustees, decided that the rank and name 
of the institution must be changed from High 
School to College, and higher courses of study 
must be adopted leading up to an academic degree. 

Exclusive of contributions to the Missionary 


VISION OF MARY MILLS PATRICK 59 


Board, $98,000.00 had been contributed by Ameri- 
can philanthropists to establish on its own premises 
an institution of higher learning for the girls and 
women of the Levant. This property was held in 
trust by the Woman’s Board of Missions of the 
Congregational Church in its corporate right, and 
according to Turkish law of the time, in the name 
of an individual resident in Turkey. The institu- 
tion, while independent in its internal administra- 
tion, received some support from the Woman’s 
Board of Missions. The proposed change to the 
policy of managing the school with a charter was 
laid before the executive committee of the 
Woman’s Board of Missions to obtain its approval 
to apply for a charter. This approval was granted 
and a committee was appointed with Miss Borden 
as chairman, in 1890, to apply to the Common- 
wealth of Massachusetts for a charter. Three 
weeks later, a charter was granted by the Senate 
and by the House of Representatives of the Com- 
monwealth of Massachusetts, signed by the gov- 
ernor of Massachusetts. This charter of ‘ The 
American College for Girls at Constantinople,” as 
it was cumbrously styled, gave “ power to grant 
such honourary testimonials and confer such hon- 
ours, degrees and diplomas as are granted by any 
university, college or seminary of learning in this 
Commonwealth.” 

Miss Borden despatched a cable that evening 
to Miss Patrick, in Constantinople, ‘‘ Charter 


60 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


granted.” The word spread. In the morning the 
faculty found the study hall decorated by the stu- 
dents with garlands from the garden, and the 
blackboards covered with the magic words in sev- 
eral languages, ‘‘ Long live the College! ” Classes 
were suspended for the day and an evening ban- 
quet celebrated the occasion. Professors of Robert 
College came to the banquet with congratulations, 
saying, “‘ Robert College has long been looking for 
a bride, and rejoices to have found her in the 

merican College for Girls.” This marks the 
birth of the first American college for girls in the 
Near East, and indeed, the only seat of higher 
learning for Oriental women for some years there- 
after. There were then two good American col- 
leges for men, Robert College and Beirut College, 
but no place where the women of the Near East 
might get higher Western learning. The college 
was then, and remains, unique. 

In codifying the by-laws appended to the char- 
ter, one paragraph stated that the Trustees of the 
College must be exclusively from the Woman’s 
Board of Missions, and a Board of Trustees was 
organised. Miss Patrick was elected President of 
the College, and the American teachers were ap- 
pointed professors. According to the by-laws, 
other than American instructors might not be pro- 
fessors or members of the governing board. There 
was no change in the equipment of the college or 
its salaries. The President had to carry out the 


VISION OF MARY MILLS PATRICK 61 


dignity of her office on the old missionary salary 
of $440.00. Once in a faculty meeting it came 
out that a very industrious music teacher, who 
was paid so much for each pupil, was earning a 
larger salary than Dr. Patrick. When a scandal- 
ised professor exclaimed, ‘‘ Why, she is receiving 
more than you are,” the President quietly replied, 
‘“‘T never considered that I was paid.” Some of 
her intimates used to joke her about not being a 
‘“‘ financial success,” but, indeed, her success was 
far other and finer. 

While the trustees were unable to raise funds to 
supply the increasing necessities of the college, and 
were using the small endowment money for current 
expenses, they were still unwilling to transfer the 
college to those who were ready to support it. 

This first college for women, entirely adminis- 
tered by women, held its first Commencement exer- 
cises in June, 1891, in Barton Hall. Together with 
the flags of the United States and Turkey, the 
motto of the new seal of the corporation, Dominus 
Illuminatio Mea, was arranged over the platform. 
The presence of the Minister of the United States 
of America to the Sublime Porte maintained the 
American character of the institution, while a 
representative of His Imperial Majesty, the Sultan 
of Turkey, showed the favour of the Turkish gov- 
ernment. President Mary Mills Patrick presided 
with a dignity which announced the new status of 
the institution. President Washburn, of Robert 


62 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


College, with other members of his staff, were on 
the platform. The hall was crowded with many 
nationalities, curious and interested in this strange 
occasion. President Patrick conferred upon seven 
students the degree of Bachelor of Arts, after 
which Miss Borden gave the address to the gradu- 
ating class. 

Miss Borden, who had come from America for 
this occasion, and who had received an ovation 
from the girls, at once organised an Alumnz Asso- 
ciation, to which were soon added branches in New 
York, Smyrna, Sofia and Philippopolis. Graduates 
of the High School were eligible to membership in 
this association. This happy year was closed 
with the gift of a good organ for Barton Hall, and 
one of $10,000.00 from Mr. Charles Wilder, of 
Massachusetts. 

So the American High School passed into the 
field of tender memories, and the new College 
arose, the culmination of American education for 
women in the Near East. 

At this point let us turn our attention to some of 
the Oriental nationalities who have taken the op- 
portunities offered in this college and proved its 
utility. 


VI 
THE GREEK STUDENTS 


ROM the early years of the High School, 
Greeks have always been an important and 
interesting part of the student body of Con- 

stantinople College. Beginning with a few in the 
first years, their numbers increased to 112 in 1916 
and, despite the Great War and the deportation of 
Greeks from Turkey, in 1922 there were 121 
Greek students in the college and preparatory 
departments. 

As President Patrick’s study of Greek philos- 
ophy and poetry would indicate, she has always 
had a strong love for classical Greece. She often 
spent her shorter holidays in Athens or on one of 
the lovely Greek islands, and she always kept up 
her interest in the Greek language, ancient and 
modern. Her ambition for the College was to have 
as strong a department of Greek as was to be found 
in any Greek school in Constantinople. The head 
of the department was for a long time a man, a 
doctor of philosophy from the University of 
Athens, who was also a professor of Robert Col- 
lege. The assistants in this department have been 
young Greek women, often graduates of this col- 


63 


64 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


lege. Every Greek student was obliged to study 
both modern and classical Greek throughout her 
entire course. 

An American tourist once, being confronted with 
the Greek teacher in College, exclaimed, ‘‘ Oh, is 
she a modern Greek? ” 

It was impossible to avoid the laughing counter- 
question, ‘‘ You did not think she was ancient, 
did you? ” 

But at first in Greece or Turkey, one does feel 
like that tourist. It is surprising to know real 
Greeks; one expects them all to be like the heroines 
of ancient tragedy; and it is some time before one 
finds them to be just nice girls like our American 
girls. They often look like classic Greeks. One 
girl, for instance, who took the part of an attend- 
ant in a Greek play was so like an early Greek 
statue in her classical robes that it was positively 
startling, while three or four of the students were 
of an Hellenic beauty. One of the Greek stu- 
dents was extremely pretty, with a soft beauty 
befitting an Ismene or some other lovely, un- 
heroic classic figure. She had curly hair with 
bronze lights in it, soft regular features, a deli- 
cate skin with now and then a lovely pink colour, 
and a pretty habit of twining ivy or violets in her 
hair. All of the girls loved flowers and wore them 
in their hair, but the ivy seemed a peculiarly Greek 
decoration. 

As a class, Greek women are strong-featured 


THE GREEK STUDENTS 65 


rather than pretty, with pale or dark complexions 
wholly without colour, with dark, generally curly 
hair, rather short figures and small hands and feet. 
The men look very much like Frenchmen. 

Although the Christian name “ Mary”? in its 
diminutive “‘ Marica” is perhaps the commonest 
Greek name, classical names are much in vogue. 
These are pronounced with full vowel sound and 
the stress on the penult, a pronunciation which 
comes to seem much more beautiful than ours. 
Thus Antigone is An-ti-go-ne; Andromache, 
Andro-ma’-che; Eurydice, Eury-the’-ke; Iphigenia, 
Iphe-ga’-nia. Sometimes the names associated in 
our minds with goddesses and poets seem ridicu- 
lously misapplied, as when a mother calls her fat, 
gurgling baby Demos-the’nes, or one discovers that 
Aphrodite is an old hag. It was very interesting 
in the history classes to see the pride that Greek 
students felt towards the history of ancient Greece, 
regarding it as their own. I have seen a Greek 
girl, in the presence of Armenians and Turks, swell 
visibly over the accomplishment of some Athenian 
or Spartan. 

The Greek people are divided geographically 
between Greece, the Greek islands and Turkey, 
those in the northern part of Turkey being de- 
scendants of the Byzantines who ruled the empire 
before the Turks conquered it, while the descend- 
ants of the Ionian Greeks were scattered over a 
large part of Asia Minor, whence in the recent 


66 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


exchange of populations, they have largely re- 
turned to Greece. 

They are not generally a peasant-people like the 
Bulgarians, nor soldiers like the Turks, but a race 
of traders, merchants and professional men. They 
are a people of clever brains, and gravitate nat- 
urally towards the cities and schools. Of course, 
there are some farmers and peasants living the 
primitive life of centuries ago. There comes to 
mind a peasant woman in a village near Delphi, 
dressed in bloomers, with a ’kerchief on her 
braided hair, working hard in her dark hut and 
filling up her spare time with spinning on a hand 
loom, twisting between her hard thumb and finger 
the wool that dropped from the spindle. In Greece 
itself there is a farming class of necessity, but in 
Turkey there were a few Greek farmers, but many 
politicians, schoolmasters, priests and _ traders. 
The Greek is fully as sharp a trader as the Armen- 
ian or the Jew and can always outwit a Turk or 
Bulgarian. This keenness of wit makes the Greek 
feel himself superior to his simpler neighbours, but 
as each race in the Near East feels superior to all 
the others, this is scarcely a distinguishing trait. 

When the independence of Greece, a century 
ago, divided the Greeks politically, it left the 
Greeks of Turkey in a pathetic position. Still sub- 
jects of the Sultan, they shared emotionally in the 
life of the new Greek nation. It was interesting to 
see the Greek girls in college decorating their per- 


THE GREEK STUDENTS 67 


sons with the pretty blue and white flag of Greece 
on Independence Day, or the king’s name day, as 
though it were their independence or their king 
that was being honoured. 

Constantinople, in 1900, was quite as much a 
Greek city as a Turkish capital. On the Golden 
Horn lies a quarter called the Phenar, within 
which, a city within a city, lived a Greek com- 
munity, the descendants of the one time lords of 
Byzance. Here was the Greek cathedral, here were 
the Greek schools, here the Justinian law ruled in 
the midst of a Mohammedan city. Not in this 
district, but visible from its heights, rises Aghia 
Sophia, the Greek Church of Holy Wisdom, the 
mother of all Greek churches. No Greek could 
look on it without pain, even the little girls sighing, 
** Ach, when will that church be ours again? It is 
so sad to see it changed to a Turkish mosque.” 
Every child was brought up to hope for the day 
when the Cross should replace the crescent on this 
historic church. The ancient walls of the city, the 
many Greek churches, remnants of old palaces, 
arouse memories and longings within the breast of 
a Greek dweller on the Bosphorus. 

The Greeks of Turkey, like other national 
groups, were represented at the Porte by their 
ecclesiastical head, the Patriarch. A few of the 
Greeks of Turkey were members of Catholic or 
Protestant churches, but these to a considerable 
extent lost their national affiliations. Fifty years 


68 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


ago the Orthodox Church was very formal and 
lifeless, but partly from contact with Western mis- 
sionaries it has grown much more spiritual and 
effective within the last half century. 

Independent Greece is scarcely a century old. 
Before 1826 it was a province of Turkey, a bare 
land harassed by brigands and guerillas, with 
miserable villages at intervals. Now it is a country 
of some cultivation and a fair number of comfort- 
able towns and cities. The harbours of Patras and 
Pireus are bustling ports, and Athens is a beautiful, 
well-kept city. We once had a Greek student who 
had spent her life in a Turkish village. She loved 
Constantinople, but friends thought she should 
visit the Greek city. When she returned from a 
brief visit to Athens, we asked her eagerly about 
her impressions,—the Acropolis, the ruins, the sur- 
rounding mountains. But she shook her head. 
They were beautiful, but she could scarcely notice 
them in face of her first modern city. It was a 
revelation to her to see clean streets, sidewalks, 
lighting at night, and people in the streets as 
though it were day, handsome houses and shops 
filled with beautiful things. _ 

Some of the Greek girls are good students and 
some are not. The College has had a number of 
girls who were there because they were sent by 
their parents, whose interests were mainly in 
fashion and society, and who did careless, poor 
work. These were mainly from rich families. On 


THE GREEK STUDENTS 69 


the other hand, some of our most brilliant students 
were Greeks, who always stood high, and with 
scarcely any effort outdistanced their classmates. 
There were also some hard-working, ambitious 
Greek girls who obtained excellent marks by sheer 
industry. In one composition class were two Greek 
girls, Euphro-sy-ne, or Phroso as she was called, 
and Chrysanthe, who wrote English with remark- 
able ability. They both had large vocabularies, 
notably large in the classical words, and brilliant 
powers of observation and description, and their 
lively sense of humour made their compositions 
very good reading. Both Phroso and Chrysanthe 
could versify amusingly in English and French. 
The Greek girls who were good students excelled 
in philosophy and literature and in some kinds of 
science as well as in language work, but rare is the 
Oriental girl who applies herself to mathematics 
with any satisfaction. 

A group of commonplace Greek girls would be 
transformed by the performance of “ Electra” or 
“Iphigenia.” They have great dramatic ability 
and render a classical play with a nobility, beauty 
and fire that is amazing. I have never seen a 
dramatic performance anywhere that has moved 
me more or seemed more highly and seriously 
beautiful than “ Antigone,” given by the Greek 
Society of Constantinople College. In the other 
college plays, French and English, the Greek girls 
always took a prominent part. A year or two ago 


70 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


“As You Like It ” was given out of doors on the 
beautiful new grounds of the college. Oriental 
girls are always unconscious in their acting, an 
English or American girl in the cast being notice- 
ably self-conscious beside them. On this occasion 
there was a long stretch of sward before the actors 
reached the stage, and the charm and unconscious- 
ness with which they walked over the lawn was 
beautiful. The part of Rosalind was taken by a 
Greek named Marianthe. She was tall and slender, 
pale-skinned and auburn-haired, a lovely figure, 
and acted with grace and simplicity. A group of 
young American men who saw the play went home 
together in a boat, and one of them afterwards 
told me, “We men were not noisy, as fellows 
usually are after an entertainment, but we sat 
quietly in the boat saying little and when we got 
to the quay we found that we had all fallen in love 
with Marianthe.”’ 

A few of our Greek girls were very energetic and 
athletic, two of them equalling the English girls as 
tennis players. They were also charming dancers, 
the more fashionable ones dancing the modern 
dances, while those from the country skipped 
through the Hora, a lively folk dance full of 
stamping and leaping and danced in a circle or 
long line. 

There is a strong strain of sentimentality in 
Greek girls. They take ardent fancies to each 
other and to teachers, and revel in emotionality. 


THE GREEK STUDENTS 71 


When I entered Constantinople College, I found 
the sub-freshman class in English reading Irving’s 
“Sketch Book.” After we had finished the better 
known sketches, I turned to ‘“ Rural Funerals.” 
To my dismay, several girls wept in the class, and 
one of them said to me with pride, ‘“ I have a right 
to cry, my little brother died.”’ So when they re- 
quested to read next, “The Broken Heart,” I 
sternly declined and sought a less lachrymose 
subject. 

In cases of illness and death they regard it as a 
sign of respect and proper feeling to make a great 
outcry, sometimes throwing themselves on the floor 
and screaming. A Christian funeral is rather a 
dreadful thing to see in the Orient. The corpse is 
carried through the streets in an uncovered box, 
the dead face staring at the sky, and one may even 
encounter the gruesome sight of a dead girl sitting 
upright in her chair on her way to the grave. 
Forty days after the funeral there is a second 
service of commemoration with a visit to the grave, 
and all the family and friends tear open their 
wounds afresh, weeping and exclaiming, ‘‘ Oh, she 
was a lovely girl, such a girl! How can we live 
without her! Oh, Electra! ” until we wonder how 
they stand it all. 

I have said that a Christian funeral is a dreadful 
thing, for a Moslem funeral is much quieter and 
more restrained than a Greek or Armenian funeral, 
and the Moslems say that one who believes in im- 


72 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


mortality should not grieve actively. Of course, 
they are not able to live up to this ideal, but the 
fact that it is an ideal shames the Christians, whose 
faith in a future life seems less real. The Moslem, 
naturally, does not wear mourning, but the Ori- 
ental Christians not only shroud themselves in 
waves of crepe, but tie up their picture-frames and 
their plush furniture and their mirrors in black, 
making their houses places of dread. Little girls 
losing relatives whom they have never known are 
put into dead black, and for months and even years 
after a death a family lives in an atmosphere 
of crepe. 

In connection with death a curious custom has 
sprung up of concealing a death from a relative 
until a convenient season. Let me give an in- 
stance of this. Dora, one of our students, lost her 
father, who lived in Russia. His death was in the 
paper, so that the other girls saw it, but they did 
not tell her. Her mother had written her that her 
father was ill, but when he died she wrote Dora 
that he had recovered. Dora was relieved, but 
when she never heard from him she began to be 
anxious again. She moved about among girls, 
many of whom were in black, her pink dress look- 
ing odd to us who knew, and her little face growing 
more and more strained. At length school was 
over, and she was told that her parents had come 
for her. An uncle called at the college for her. 
She cried, “‘ My father, I fear he is dead! ” But 


THE GREEK STUDENTS 73 


he replied soothingly, ‘‘ No, indeed, he is at’ the 
boat.” So she went to the boat with him, where 
she saw her mother in deep mourning and learned 
the truth. 

This custom worked badly, for whenever a girl 
did not hear from her family for some time, she was 
sure that some one was dead; but we could never 
make the families see the unwisdom of it. One 
amusing incident connected with this custom was 
the speech of a Greek serving woman to her mis- 
tress, ““ My husband is so thoughtful; he is at 
Erenkeuy, my old home, and he writes me that 
there have been a great many deaths there this 
winter, but he will not tell me who they are for fear 
of worrying me.” The most cruel case I ever knew 
was of an old woman who was allowed to sell her 
few goods and go to America to live with a son who 
had been dead some months. 

The college once had a Greek teacher who was 
living a strange lie. Her sister had left home be- 
cause of illness and had gone to visit a married 
sister, at whose house she died. The mother had a 
weak heart, and the daughters thought it would kill 
her to know of Sappho’s death. So they told her 
Sappho was getting better, and every week the 
married sister wrote to her in Sappho’s name. Our 
teacher wore mourning when in college, but every 
night on her way home she went into a neighbour’s 
house and put on colours to appear before her 
mother. When she was once asked how long she 


74 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


expected to keep up the deceit, she replied, her 
plain face lighting with a loving look, “‘ As long as 
Mama lives, for she could net bear to know.” 

A Greek girl’s marriage is a careful business ar- 
rangement made by her guardians; and woe unto 
the girl with no dowry! She may be as lovely as 
Helen and as faithful as Penelope and the best of 
housewives, but without a little dot that can go 
into her husband’s business she cannot hope to 
marry. Sometimes a girl is bargained for and sent 
to a distant husband, in which case the happiness 
of her marriage is very problematical. 

Greek women have quick brains, good taste and 
often clever fingers, so they are fitted for almost 
any occupation open to women. Of course, most 
of them marry, feeling deeply the stigma attached 
to an ‘“‘ old maid.” If she does not marry, a Greek 
girl of the lower class may become cook, or house- 
maid, or if better educated she may become a 
dressmaker, milliner, governess, or school teacher, 
musician, or even a member of some “ learned pro- 
fession.”” I knew one woman physician in Athens 
who had a fine practice as well as a city appoint- 
ment. Greeks, in 1900, had most of the dressmak- 
ing and millinery establishments in Constantinople, 
owing to their natural taste. They also furnish a 
very large number of servants of the city. These 
servants are often as independent as ours in Amer- 
ica. One girl of a rich family told me that their 
housemaid was leaving them, not because she had 


THE GREEK STUDENTS 75 


insufficient wages or overmuch work, but because, 
so she claimed, she didn’t hear enough music in 
the house! 

There comes to my mind in contrast to this inci- 
dent, a beautiful story of faithfulness in service. 
In a Greek household there was a maid Daphne, 
who was the special maid of the daughter of the 
house. When the latter married, Daphne went 
with her to the new establishment. Children were 
born to the mother, and Daphne loved and tended 
them all. Then the mistress decided that the maid 
should marry, so she got her an outfit of linen and 
arranged for a suitable husband. Just before the 
marriage was to take place, the husband of the 
mistress died, leaving his widow with small means 
and three children. Daphne immediately threw 
over her own prospects, and declaring that she 
would never leave her beloved mistress, settled 
down to live the life of the latter in perfect devo- 
tion. When I knew her she was middle aged, doing 
the work of the family and seldom meeting the 
guests, but to the mistress she was a dearly loved 
friend and to the children a second mother. 

A good many of the Greek graduates of Con- 
stantinople College become teachers, and an in- 
creasingly large number are taking up nursing as a 
profession. Before the college offered any nursing 
course, but when it inspired its graduates with a 
desire to work, one of its Greek alumnz, Cleonike 
Clonari, class of 1889, went to Boston to study 


76 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


nursing. While in a hospital there she was noted 
by a Greek traveller, who said to her, “ You do 
not belong here. You should come back to Greece, 
where you are needed.”’ So eventually he got her to 
come back to Athens as head of the Princess Hos- 
pital for Children; and she has done splendid work 
there, winning recognition from the late Queen and 
from the medical profession. During the Balkan 
wars and the Great War, many Greek women have 
done army nursing and Red Cross work, and today 
a number of the Constantinople College graduates 
are working actively among the refugees in and 
near Athens. 

Among these workers is an interesting young 
Greek named Alexandra Joannides, of the class of 
1917. She went, after graduation from Constanti- 
nople College, to Geneva to study for her doctorate 
in Social Sciences. Soon after her arrival there, 
she was asked to become a member of a Greek 
society in the University, and she won her maiden 
honours by speaking at the first meeting that she 
attended, on the subject of then Greek politics, and 
speaking with such force and conviction that she 
won two Greek men present to the side of her hero, 
Venizelos. After that opening, she spoke fre- 
quently and most effectively on her favourite 
theme,—the political and intellectual equality of 
men and women. Her studies had to be abandoned 
for family reasons, but, turning from her personal 
culture, she threw herself into work for her dis- 


THE GREEK STUDENTS 77 


tressed country and became secretary to Henry 
Morgenthau in his relief work in Greece. 

Many of the Constantinople College Greek 
graduates have pursued their studies further, at 
Athens, Leipsic, and even in America. One or two 
have done some journalistic or literary work. But, 
as is common in the Orient, the greater number 
have married, and some of their children have 
taken their places in the college. 


Vil 


TWO ALBANIAN HEROINES 


unusual girl. She was Sevasti Kyrias, the first 

Albanian student. She had a short, vigourous 
body and a dark eager face, with the broad head 
and aquiline nose that are characteristic of one 
Albanian type. She was an able, enthusiastic 
young woman, who did well in college and took 
her degree in 1891. 

In 1900, her sister, Parashkevi, entered the col- 
lege, graduating in the usual four years. Both 
sisters had been prepared in the American school 
at Monastir. Like her sister, Parashkevi was a 
small, plump girl, but fairer than Sevasti, with 
nut-brown hair, soft brown eyes, a gently tilted 
nose and a rosebud mouth. “ A sweet little thing,” 
one would have called her, who knew nothing of 
her heroic life. 

These girls were of pure Albanian stock, which 
meant that they came of the most primitive non- 
Oriental stock in Europe. Some of these Albanians 
are Mohammedan, the rest being Christian, usually 
of the Orthodox Church. But the Kyrias family 
were Protestant. Their grandfather was a feudal 


78 


| 1887, there entered the High School a very 





SEVASTI AND PARASHKEVI KYRIAS 
And their brother before heroism had been thrust upon them 


TWO ALBANIAN HEROINES 79 


Bey living in a square stone castle that dominated 
the southern plain. He was a man of comparative 
wealth, who read his Greek Testament and Greek 
newspaper, but the war of 1878 sent the family to 
Monastir, whither they were able to drive of their 
ample flocks and herds only a favourite sow and a 
few horses. 

In telling the story of the Kyrias sisters, we are 
telling the story of the educational movement in 
Albania, a story of achievement and romance. 
There were no Albanian schools before 1884, the 
mountaineers being entirely illiterate and the 
southerners getting what education they could in 
Greek or Turkish. Despite their illiteracy, the 
Albanians are never stupid. A Greek lawyer, in 
speaking of them, said: 


“These men can neither read nor write, but they 
know how they stand. They have brains, I tell 
you, they have brains. I have assisted at the cross 
examination of people of many nationalities, and I 
have seen nothing like the intelligence of these wild 
men. They see at once where the question will lead 
them. You cannot catch them. They have never 
learned to read, therefore they have memories.” 


That the women possess this same native 
shrewdness will be shown in the story of the 
Kyrias sisters. 

The Albanian leaders, recognising this natural 
intelligence, saw what a means of unification the 


80 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


literary knowledge of their own tongue would be. 
Difference of religion had never been able to sepa- 
rate Albanians; how much more united they could 
become through education. 

Therefore, in 1884, a boys’ school was opened in 
the Albanian language, in Kortcha. But the Turk- 
ish government, realising its political importance, 
promptly suppressed it. A few years later, in 
1891, Gerasim Kyrias started a similar school for 
girls in the same town. As he was backed by 
English and American influence, his school was 
not so easily crushed, but his own life was tragic. 
Like Miss Ellen M. Stone later, he was captured 
by brigands who tortured him for six months until 
his health was undermined and he died a few years 
after his release. 

At his death, his school came to his sister as a 
sacred legacy. ‘The Albanians delightedly sent 
their daughters thither. The school was broad and 
undenominational: as Miss Kyrias said, “‘ We 
wanted the Moslems, Catholics and Orthodox 
Christians all to come to us. Our only purpose is 
to make them love God and their country.” 

Aye, there was the rub! For their country 
meant to them not the Turkish Empire, but their 
own land and a possible independence. Naturally 
the Turkish government considered the movement 
a nationalising and unifying one and was strongly 
opposed to it. Besides the Ottoman government, 
this Albanian school offended another powerful 


TWO ALBANIAN HEROINES 81 


force, the Greek Orthodox Church, for here 
was an influence that undermined active Greek 
propaganda. 

So the little school struggled against threats of 
exile and death for teachers and pupils from the 
Turkish government, and boycott, anathema and 
excommunication from the Greek clergy. Some- 
times all but a few scholars would leave the school, 
and then again it would fill up with eager Albanian 
girls. In the first year the school had secured an 
iradeh, or government permit, and as the teachers 
complied with all the government regulations, there 
was no excuse for closing it. Nevertheless, at- 
tempts were made to close it. One day Sevasti, 
with no surprise, but considerable quiet amuse- 
ment, received a visit from a high Turkish official 
accompanied by an escort of police and porters, 
the latter carrying sacks under their arms. When 
the official saw the little woman in charge, his face 
beamed with content, for he underestimated her 
forceful personality. He had come to close the 
school and carry off all the books in sacks, but 
after a four-hours’ contest of wills, he retired, 
worsted. After this the school was constantly 
watched by spies, and timourous parents withdrew 
their daughters. 

Writing of his visit to the school in 1904, Mr. 
H. N. Brailsford says of Sevasti Kyrias: ‘ Her 
school, centre of high influence, model of order and 
sweetness and good will, would be more readily 


82 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


tolerated if it were a nest of vice and crime.” It 
had to be carried on furtively and in secret. ‘ At 
any moment the chief of police may come clanking 
into the courtyard, and more than once the brave 
woman who works there alone and unprotected has 
stood in her doorway and dared him to execute his 
threat of confiscating her books.”” And she knew 
that she, as a Turkish subject, might be exiled at 
any moment. 

The culmination came when a revolt broke out 
among the misgoverned Albanians, and government 
and clergy combined to crush the national move- 
ment, putting to death many of its leaders. At 
that time the threats against the school were so 
terrifying that all of the pupils were withdrawn 
except five who lived too far away to go home. A 
plot to kill Sevasti Kyrias kept her in constant 
danger for months, a would-be assassin dogging her 
movements until he was finally captured by in- 
dignant Albanians. The father of one of the 
pupils was excommunicated. When he removed 
his daughter, they made a big feast and he was re- 
baptised and received back in the Greek Church. 
But although persecution thinned out the school, it. 
only seemed to increase the loyalty and enthusiasm 
of the Albanians for this centre of national en- 
lightenment, which they fondly called “‘ The Bea- 
con Light.” 

By this time, Parashkevi Kyrias had graduated 
from Constantinople College and had taken charge 


TWO ALBANIAN HEROINES 83 


of the school at Kortcha, while Sevasti went to 
America to raise funds that were desperately 
needed. In college Parashkevi seemed timid and 
somewhat dependent, and it was hard to imagine 
her carrying such a load of responsibility, but her 
girlish timidity disappeared when the need came, 
and she developed remarkable strength, poise and 
calm. The Albanians are not an emotional people, 
but even though unlettered and thoroughly natural, 
must always be reached first through their minds. 
This is strange in a warlike and uncivilised people, 
but her character certainly illustrates it. She has 
always followed her reason rather than her emo- 
tions. She carried the school with the same vigour, 
dignity and efficiency that her sister has displayed. 

Imagine, if you can, that little school. It was 
first held in a private house, the usual two-storied 
stone building, but later, additions were built of 
brick painted grey. Spotlessly clean wooden floors 
and whitewashed walls set ideals of cleanliness 
before the pupils. The girls in long aprons with 
their hair hanging in braids, as became unmarried 
women, sat at old-fashioned desks, or when there 
were not enough of these, on the well-scrubbed 
floor, and used benches as desks. Slates and 
blackboards were practically all their equipment 
except books. What are those dog-eared piles of 
manuscript that the girls are handling? Why, they 
are the books. There were no Albanian books to 
be had, and for years none could be printed. So 


84 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


when the hard-worked teachers were free from 
their pupils, late into the night they were making 
text books, “‘ making ” in every sense of the word. 
A text would be selected, “the very latest text ” 
from German or French or American shelves, and 
translated into Albanian, perhaps several texts 
being combined. Then the books had to be elabo- 
rately hectographed on amateur hectographs which 
the teachers made themselves, and the awkward, 
fragile books furnished to the students. When it 
became possible, later, to print some books in 
Albanian, the Albanian ladies had merely to write 
them, Sevasti getting out the first Albanian gram- 
mar, and Parashkevi a primer, and Sevasti begin- 
ning a general history. 

When the girls were tired of bending over these 
priceless volumes, they might have the relief of 
singing or of gymnastics in the school yard. The 
Albanians are fond of singing, and their native 
music has a plaintive sweetness that is very 
appealing. 

Another step in the emancipation of Albania was 
the forming of the first literary society for women 
in Kortcha by Parashkevi Kyrias. A hundred 
women, eager to learn, joined this society. They 
were of all degrees of education, a few, like the 
Kyrias ladies, being able to write papers and give 
talks to the others, while a goodly number were 
quite illiterate, for whom a class was formed, 
teaching them to read and write. 


TWO ALBANIAN HEROINES 85 


The topics of those meetings were practical and 
unpolitical, such as house-hygiene and the care of 
children. But the suspicious Turkish government 
recognised the underlying nationalism of the Club 
and had its founder arrested. 

“They arrested me and took me to court,” said 
Parashkevi, telling of this adventure. ‘Oh, I 
didn’t want to go at all. And they put me in the 
criminal dock, such a dirty place! And the chair 
was so dirty! I was the only woman in the court. 
The Cadi with his white turban glared at me and 
cried, ‘Sit down’! But the chair was too dirty.” 
Her voice rose and fell with quaint emphasis. “I 
said, ‘I don’t want to.’ Then he roared louder, 
‘Sit down,’ and I looked at the chair and said, 
‘How can I?’ So he shouted to the cavass: ‘ Get 
her a chair from my room,’ and to me, ‘ Now, will 
you sit down?’ ‘ Thank you, I will,’ I replied, and 
sat down.” 

One may perceive from this dialogue that in 
Turkey there is no punishment of women for con- 
tempt of court, and also that Parashkevi was not 
easily intimidated. 

Parashkevi was tried twice, once as founding a 
political club, and the other time as being head of 
a political school. The first time she was fined five 
pounds, which she never paid, and the club was 
allowed to continue if it would depose her from the 
presidency. ‘The second time, after the first fine 
had remained unpaid, and she continued to lead the 


86 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


club, she was fined the nominal sum of one piaster 
(four cents), to save the official’s face. Her case 
was cleverly defended by a Moslem Albanian law- 
yer, and she again refused to pay the fine. “ Why 
do you make so much fuss? ” asked the irritated 
Cadi; ‘‘ can’t you pay one piaster?”’ ‘“ Yes, many 
piasters,”’ was the cool answer, “‘ when it is right to 
do so, but not now.” In the end they dismissed the 
defiant little woman, letting her return to her 
school and her club. But they kept a sharp watch 
on her as a “ very dangerous person.” 

About this time an enthusiastic Albanian patriot 
came to Kortcha to help in the educational move- 
ment. He was Christo Dako, who had been edu- 
cated in Bucharest and was living there when he 
felt the call of his country. He married Sevasti 
Kyrias and shared her work in the school and was 
ready for all sorts of national propaganda. 

When, in 1908, the Turkish constitution was 
granted, the Albanians thought that their day had 
come. The leaders called four national congresses, 
started sixty-six national clubs, set up four printing 
presses, which put out eleven newspapers in Al- 
bania and, most important of all, started fifty-eight 
schools. 

In Albania, as throughout Turkey, oppression 
was for the time removed, and everyone was eager 
for freedom and enlightenment. The Girls’ School 
was besieged with pupils so that an adjoining build- 
ing had to be rented to accommodate them. Every 


TWO ALBANIAN HEROINES 87 


true Albanian felt a keen pride in the pioneer 
school and recognised it as the cradle of all national 
education. 

But reaction set in very soon in Turkey. The 
quick flare of Albanian nationalism frightened the 
young Turks and by military force they closed all 
the schools except the one, ‘‘ Beacon Light.” Bit- 
terly disappointed and chagrined, the Albanians 
rose in revolt. In 1911, Mr. Charles R. Crane, of 
Chicago, visited Albania and saw the wonderful 
possibilities of its people. He offered to help the 
Kortcha school, and he chose a group of Albanian 
girls to send to Constantinople College for further 
education. The Kyrias sisters were full of hope 
for the future of their school when the Balkan wars 
broke out, with Albania a shuttlecock between the 
states. The school was protected by the American 
flag, but was nevertheless in grave danger. 

In 1913, Austria, to keep back the Serbs, insisted 
on Albania’s being erected into an independent 
state on the lines of Servia and Bulgaria. This 
would have fulfilled the dearest hopes of the Al- 
banian patriots, had not the boundaries been so 
drawn as to include in the independent district 
only the highlands of the north, excluding the 
Kortcha and Arghorokastro districts. 

Miss Sevasti Kyrias had married Christo Dako, 
and had become the mother of two little boys. At 
this time Mr. Dako and Miss Parashkevi Kyrias 
were studying in the United States, desiring to 


88 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


work out a plan for the educational system for 
Albania, and Mrs. Dako was left in charge of the 
school. Kortcha was overrun by defeated Turkish 
soldiers, who, however, did no harm, but contented 
themselves with begging for food. The great fel- 
lows lay down under the windows with their heads 
in the shade and their feet in the sun, while the 
Albanian women tossed them loaves of bread from 
above. After they had gone, Greek soldiery ap- 
peared like swarms of wasps, and what the af- 
frighted citizens had expected from the Turks and 
had not got—atrocities—they received from the 
Christian soldiers and the revolutionaries who ac- 
companied them. The Greeks felt that they had 
won this district in the Balkan wars. 

Mrs. Dako was aroused one midnight during 
this time by knocks at the school gate. The knock- 
ing increased. Her room faced the street and, 
lifting one corner of the shade carefully, she beheld 
four soldiers and four revolutionaries. Drawing 
back, she let them knock, but as they kept it up 
for two hours, and as she feared they might climb 
the wall and get into the grounds, she went and 
awoke some teachers, and together the women 
crossed the yard and called their man servant and 
some guards who were near by. The soldiers 
slunk away, to Mrs. Dako’s great relief. 

On Easter Eve, just after the American mission- 
aries had been expelled from Albania, to the great 
surprise of the teachers, who had feared only 


ee 


TWO ALBANIAN HEROINES 89 


irregular soldiers, regular troops surrounded the 
school for three nights. Rumours were rife that 
there was a plot to burn the school and so destroy 
the nest of patriots. But the brave women watched 
by night and taught by day, carrying on the work 
of the school until the end of May. Then, threat- 
ened with exile, Mrs. Dako and her children fled 
to Monastir. . 

Mr. Dako and Miss Kyrias knew little of the 
dangers that menaced Mrs. Dako and her two 
little boys. On the contrary, they were filled 
with joy when they were officially informed that 
Kortcha and its district were to be included within 
the limits of independent Albania. Knowing that 
the Albanian leaders would turn to them for advice 
and help in establishing national schools, they 
quickly left America. Their hopes were dashed 
with anxiety when they received letters urging 
them to return promptly and hinting at danger to 
Mrs. Dako. 

When they reached the Balkans they found a 
different state of affairs from what they expected. 
The Greeks who had been in Kortcha since the 
Balkan war refused to evacuate the city, and there 
was trouble in the air. 

Miss Kyrias, thinking it less dangerous for her- 
self than for Mr. Dako to venture into Salonika, 
went thither to get permits to proceed—a woman 
alone in an Oriental town in war time! She went 
first to the American consul-general to ask for an 


90 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


escort to Kortcha, and then fearlessly bearded the 
Greek governor in his office. She spoke Greek so 
well that the governor thought she was a Greek at 
first, and greeted her graciously, but when he 
learned that she was an Albanian his face dropped, 
for the Greeks felt far from friendly just then to 
the Albanians whom they intended to despoil. 
Perhaps, however, he was touched by her simple 
courage, for he treated her kindly, giving her the 
permits and putting her into a carriage. But the 
populace not feeling so kindly—she drove off 
amid a crowd of hooting and hostile men. 

It was an eighteen-hour drive to the school. Mr. 
Dako and Miss Kyrias got into the building and 
informally gathered some neighbours, although the 
latter had suffered so much that they were timid at 
first. The next day many women came to greet 
Parashkevi and many messages of warm welcome 
were secretly sent to her, for the people felt that 
her coming was a good augury, that Kortcha would 
be included in independent Albania. But the 
Greeks were sorry to see them, surrounding them 
with spies and rumours of danger. By December 
every one was anxious, so that the doors were 
locked and rifles given out. The Greeks had been 
told to evacuate by December thirtieth, but, to the 
great disappointment of the natives, they kept de- 
ferring the date. Moreover, they began persecu- 
tions of the Albanians, many Moslems especially 
being imprisoned and exiled because they would 


ee a 


TWO ALBANIAN HEROINES 91 


not sell their nationality while some were killed 
merely for expressing a hope of independence. 
There were the usual atrocities, and eighteen vil- 
lages were burned to the ground. But at last the 
day of evacuation came. The teachers in the little 
school were very happy on March second. At 
three o’clock in the afternoon the Albanian officials 
finally entered the city. 

It should have been a brilliant scene, the red 
banners on which spreads the black double-headed 
eagle, the soldiers in white fustanellas and other 
gay uniforms, but for fear of antagonising the 
Greeks, the gendarmerie, (for Albania, being 
neutralised, was to have no army) entered very 
quietly, and a rainy day and the orders of the 
Greek bishop that none of his flock should go to 
welcome the Albanians further emptied the streets. 
Parashkevi and a teacher stole out to look at the 
loved soldiery, but could see none. In privacy the 
Greek government surrendered to the Dutch of- 
ficials who were in charge. 

But there was pomp and ceremony when, on 
March 7, the new ruler, Prince William of Wied, 
entered Albania. For the first time in five centu- 
ries they had their own government, but, alas, it 
was a brief independence. It was a short month 
later that the people of Kortcha were awakened by 
the ringing of church-bells, the firing of guns and 
cheering for the Greek rule. The small Albanian 
garrison was soon overcome and the Greeks ranged 


92 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


over the city destructively. The blue and white 
Greek flag was raised in place of the beloved 
Albanian eagle. 

Again the school became an armed fortress, be- 
sieged by soldiers. Parashkevi and two other 
women teachers and two men formed a little army 
of defence, arming themselves with muskets, and 
guarding the other women and children for five 
days and nights. Sixty women and children had 
fled to the school for protection, and for two weeks 
the teachers fed from twenty to one hundred and 
fifty refugees a day. Some of them were so seri- 
ously injured that they died. 

One day when Parashkevi was in the courtyard, 
a soldier lifted a rifle and pointed it at her breast. 
She could not escape, so she just folded her arms 
to show that she was not afraid to die. But some- 
body whistled and he turned and ran. When she 
went to the house someone said, ‘‘ Parashkevi, you 
are pale, are you ill?” but she replied, ‘“ No, 
only tired.” 

At last the Albanians were out of ammunition 
and had to give up, and the three hundred and 
fifty thousand people fled for their lives. Among 
them was a group of seventeen including Mr. and 
Mrs. Dako and Parashkevi carrying or dragging 
the two little boys, fleeing in the midst of terrific 
fire. The horrible whistle of bullets heard about 
them, gigantic flames from burning towns on all 
sides, pathetic cries of the children and wailing of 


TWO ALBANIAN HEROINES 93 


women as they rushed in all directions made a 
horrid nightmare. They could carry nothing with 
them but a few little things tied up in handker- 
chiefs, and two red rugs to sleep in. Some Dutch 
officials had given them fifty napoleons, but they 
had to give thirty of them as baksheesh to the 
Servian frontier guard. At last they reached 
Bulgaria and were safe. 

Safe, but oh, so miserable. They had no money 
at first and little hope. Many of them were forced 
to live in one wretched house where they had few 
chairs and slept rolled in the rugs on the floor. 
Once they had no food for three days and only 
such water as they could drink from their hands. 
They waited in the Balkan cities until the Great 
War broke out, and they could hope no longer for 
a return to their beloved work. Then Mr. Charles 
R. Crane, who had given much to the school, in- 
vited Mr. and Mrs. Dako and Miss Kyrias to come 
to the United States and work among the Albanian 
refugees here. Within these tragic three years, 
100,000 Albanians took refuge in our country. 

In 1920, Miss Kyrias returned to Albania under 
the American Red Cross. Seeing an opportunity 
to start their school again, she came to America to 
get Mrs. Dako and the children. They did not 
return to Kortcha, except to get their precious 
books, which they had buried and now were able to 
recover, but took up their residence in Tirana, the 
_ small new capital of reconstituted Albania. In 


94 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


1923, Albania was recognised by the League of 
Nations, and despite revolution, the Albanians 
hope for a stable government soon. Miss Kyrias 
was offered the position of Minister of Education, 
but thought if she wished to develop the school, 
she would more wisely keep out of politics. 

But one most interesting honour came to her 
during the Armistice. She was sent for, to Amer- 
ica, to go to Paris with the Albanian delegation to 
the Peace Congress. Thus the only woman who 
was an accredited delegate to this Conference was 
an Albanian, and a graduate of Constantinople 
Woman’s College. Curiously enough, about the 
same time, Halideh Hanum was suggested for 
Minister of Instruction in Turkey. Neither 
woman held the office, but that they could receive 
such an appointment, one never given to an Ameri- 
can or European woman, spoke well for their 
countries. 

Today, the Kyrias sisters are devoting their 
powers to the development of the ‘“ Kyrias 
Collegiate,” as it is called. After careful consid- 
eration, they decided to remove the school from 
Kortcha, which is too far from the centre of the 
country, to Tirana, the new capital. This had 
only six thousand inhabitants when it became the 
capital, but now has fifteen thousand. Albania is 
going through the difficult experience of taking on 
so-called western civilisation, and with it some of 
the accompanying vices and ailments. Curiously 


TWO ALBANIAN HEROINES 95 


enough, the new forces tend to lower the position of 
the Albanian woman and undermine her influence 
in the home. Hence the problem of a school that 
desires to fit and arm the women of this new state 
with the necessary weapons and the effective use of 
them in fighting the dangerous forces, is a serious 
one. No one is better fitted for this than the 
Kyrias ladies, trained in a mission school, given 
ideals of breadth and scholarship in Constantinople 
College, Parashkevi having earned an M.A. from 
Oberlin College, both of them disciplined in the 
hard school of warfare, loss and wide travel, de- 
voted patriots, and women of natural force and 
depth of character. 

Of course their equipment is meagre and inade- 
quate, and everything is needed, from a new build- 
ing to all sorts of outfit, but the Government is 
interested and there are friends in America, and 
surely this splendid little school will win its way, 
just as did its mother school, Constantinople Col- 
lege. In some respects the two schools are much 
alike, the main difference being that while Con- 
stantinople College inevitably became interna- 
tional, the Kyrias Collegiate must always be an 
expression of patriotism and nationalism. 

Mrs. Dako is the principal of the school, but 
resides in Tirana with her family, while Miss 
Kyrias is the resident head and manager. Mr. 
Dako attends to the correspondence and the rela- 
tions of the school to the Government and outsid- 


96 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


ers. Most of the pupils are boarders, but there are 
a few day scholars. We give here, in part, a report 
published by Miss Kyrias on the Kyrias Collegiate, 
in 1924: 


“The school is located within half an hour’s 
walk from Tirana and far away from marshy 
places and at a slightly higher altitude than the 
town. The school building is facing a range of 
beautiful mountains on the northwestern side, 
arrayed in the winter splendour of snow-capped 
peaks, which in the summer is exchanged for a 
magnificent green garment. It contains three large 
court yards, which surround the main building, 
besides four or five fields, which make an excellent 
recreation garden and sports field for the girls. 
The wells have excellent drinking water, but un- 
fortunately cannot be used to water the gardens 
during the dry weather, which lasts usually three 
months. 

“Among our girls you find Mohammedan, 
Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox, but anyone 
that comes to see them will be impressed by the 
fact that they all live like sisters. It is very un- 
usual for the Albanian girl over fourteen years of 
age to attend school, and their diligence and perse- 
verance was really striking. These girls, who 
never before were seen with books in their hands, 
are now studying very hard with a determination 
to be able to recite their lessons perfectly. It does 
one good to watch all these girls day by day grasp- 
ing new ideas and grafting their mountaineer in- 


TWO ALBANIAN HEROINES 97 


dividualistic characteristics upon noble ideas of 
social fellowship and unselfish service for their 
neighbour. 

“With the occasion of the Flag Day Commemo- 
ration, on the 29th of November, an entertainment 
was given by the pupils of the Collegiate in the 
dining-hall, the first one since the work was re- 
moved to the Capital. The scenes from ‘“ The 
Merchant of Venice” were a revelation to the 
ladies assembled. The girls declaimed and acted 
their difficult réles with great charm and wit, 
while they carried their rich costumes with equal 
distinction. 

‘We have been honoured with calls from the 
members of the Supreme Council of Regency, 
members of the Cabinet, deputies and other high 
officials. I could fill pages with extracts from the 
album of visitors, to show what the leaders of our 
country think of this institution. 

“The present prime minister has written: ‘ With 
great pleasure I visited the Girls’ Collegiate under 
the direction of Mrs. Dako and Miss Kyrias, and 
am deeply convinced that this institution will have 
a page in the history of woman’s education in 
Albania, just as this same school has its valuable 
history concerning its noble work while in Kortcha. 
The best guarantee for its progress is the capabil- 
ity and the courage which characterise the two 
distinguished sisters who direct it.’ ” 


The Albanian students at Constantinople Wo- 
man’s College always attracted a good deal of 


98 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


interest on the part of visitors. The latter would 
often inquire, “ Where is your Albanian girl? ” 
(until 1911 there was seldom more than one at a 
time). One tourist, on having Parashkevi Kyrias 
pointed out to her, remarked disappointedly, “ Oh, 
I supposed she would have pink eyes.” Others, 
having seen the splendid Albanian guard of the 
Sultan, expected to find a fierce Amazon with wild 
locks and flashing orbs. But the Albanian stu- 
dents were neither Amazons nor Albinos. They 
were generally rather small, with relatively fair 
skin, and less Oriental in appearance than most of 
the students. One of them had lovely blue eyes 
and light brown hair and another had red cheeks 
and nut brown braids. They were generally con- 
scientious students and fine characters. 

When Mr. Crane became interested in Albania, 
he gave a sum to support six Albanian girls, some 
Moslem and some Christian, in the college. A 
number of them came from the Kortcha school. 
The graduates of this school are a great credit to 
the institution. Some remained in the school after 
graduation, as teachers or helpers and showed the 
same courage and loyalty as the Kyrias ladies. 
Many have married and become helpful wives and 
mothers with higher ideals of home than their 
parents had. One Albanian doctor said that as 
soon as he entered an Albanian household he could 
tell at once whether its women had been trained or 
not in the Kortcha school, for if they had, their 


TWO ALBANIAN HEROINES 99 


manners and self-respect and housewifery all 
showed it. The girls from the school are in great 
demand as wives, for the men have found them a 
great improvement on the uneducated women. 

As the best type of Albanian girl is now attend- 
ing the Kyrias Collegiate, this school should con- 
tinue and improve on the splendid work already 
done in Kortcha. 


Vill 


COMING DOWN FROM THE BALKANS 


American High School early in its history. 

Mrs. Williams saw their desirability as stu- 
dents, and sent Clara Hamlin, who, like other mem- 
bers of her distinguished family, was a fine linguist, 
to Bulgaria, where she learned the language and 
made propaganda for the school. 

There was an excellent American school at 
Samakov, and which, when the school in Constanti- 
nople became a college, fitted students admirably 
for the freshman class, even teaching them good 
English. But President Patrick wanted to reach 
not merely the missionary product, fine though that 
was, but also the Orthodox Bulgarians. After a 
good deal of parleying and several visits to Sofia, 
the college was affiliated with the “ gymnasia ” of 
Bulgaria, whose graduates might enter the college 
without examination. If they had taken two col- 
lege years in the Gymnasia, they were admitted to 
the Junior class. But as they never knew the 
English language, they had to spend a year in 
preparation. This year was thus arranged. 

The students took some three hours a day of 


100 


} 4YROM Bulgaria students began to come to 


b26l NI SLNHAGONLS NVIMVOING ALVG-OL-dN ‘GHAq-LHDIMG AHL 








COMING DOWN FROM THE BALKANS 101 


English work, including conversation, grammar 
and composition, filling the other hours with 
courses in Bulgarian and probably French. The 
second semester they entered freshman courses in 
composition, literature and history and had special 
courses in English besides. If a girl had any apti- 
tude, she could enter the junior class in her second 
year and carry the work well. 

The Bulgarian students in the college are among 
the best there. Of good health, considerable indus- 
try, ambition and sometimes real ability, they are a 
most interesting group to teach. They are good 
linguists, as are most of the Orientals, and in their 
keen interest in modern developments and a sense 
of a remote past, are very rapidly developing into 
enthusiastic students of history. 

Of course, some of the Bulgarians are not clever, 
but there are enough fine intellects among them to 
make teaching them a delight. One of their ac- 
complishments is acting. Once the Bulgarian 
Society of the college gave a very attractive 
presentation of a folk-play of Vasoff’s entitled 
“ Tchorbadji Mikelovsky,” or ‘“‘ Michael, the Soup 
Dealer.” The students acted most effectively the 
roles of the fat officials, the young soldiers and the 
girls of the play. One of the Bulgarian girls of 
that time had a really remarkable talent for acting, 
taking with great skill such diverse parts as the 
title rdles in this play and in Moliére’s ‘‘ Le Malade 
Imaginaire ” and in Grillparzer’s noble ‘‘ Sappho.” 


102 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


In all the social life of the college the Bulgarians 
have taken an active part. They join in the basket 
ball, hockey and tennis. They are eager for pic- 
tures and the occasional outing of the art depart- 
ment or the history classes, delighting in the sights 
and museums of Constantinople, they are enthusi- 
astic members of the literary societies and are 
always ready to dance either western dances with 
the other girls, or their own folk-dances, to sing in 
the glee club or take part in an entertainment. 

They possess a certain sturdiness, an out-of- 
doors quality that mark them as different from the 
fanciful, sentimental and weaker-nerved daughters 
of some other nationalities. Sometimes a rough- 
ness accompanies their greater strength, a Bul- 
garian hoyden being more common than a Turkish 
hoyden. The Greek girls stand somewhere be- 
tween the Bulgarians and the Turks in quality of 
breeziness. 

The number of Bulgarians increased until, in 
1912, there were forty-three in the entire school, 
largely, however, in the upper college classes. 
During the Balkan wars the number kept pretty 
steady, but after the World War, with its disas- 
trous economic effects on Bulgaria, it dropped to 
twenty-three, in 1923. 

From the other Balkan states there have been 
only a few students now and then, an occasional 
Servian or Roumanian. But the fact that these 
countries have never had any American mission 


COMING DOWN FROM THE BALKANS 103 


schools has made a difference in the attraction that 
American colleges have for them. 

Youngest of the nations of the Balkan Peninsula 
to throw off the Turkish yoke, it being less than 
fifty years since it became independent, Bulgaria 
has less illiteracy than any other country in that 
region. In 1880, only one out of ten soldiers in 
the Bulgarian army could read and write; whereas, 
in 1920, only one in twenty could not. An excel- 
lent system of public instruction has been estab- 
lished, with nearly five thousand primary schools, 
a large number of secondary schools and the Uni- 
versity of Sofia. The amount spent for educational 
purposes in 1912, just before the first Balkan war, 
was one dollar and twenty cents per capita, as com- 
pared with sixty-seven cents in Servia, fifty cents 
in Greece, forty cents in Montenegro, and twenty 
cents in Turkey. 

Bulgarian students have gone to Bucharest, to 
Paris, to Germany and to Switzerland for their 
education. But a large number have gone to Con- 
stantinople, both to the French schools and to the 
American colleges. When Bulgaria acquired her 
independence and needed statesmen and _ parlia- 
mentarians, it was her man trained in Robert Col- 
lege who came to the fore and led in statesmanship. 
The American schools in Bulgaria have done much 
to educate Bulgarian youth, especially Protestant 
youth, and the two colleges in Constantinople have 
done a wider work. And even though Bulgaria has 


104 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


now a good system of her own, culminating in the 
coeducational University of Sofia, she still needs 
all that we of the West can do to help her in her 
struggle with ignorance and barbarism, and lift 
her into the higher life that she desires. Since the 
Great War and the very severe peace treaty, she 
has been in a sad plight and education has suffered. — 

The Bulgarians are perhaps the least Oriental 
of the many nationalities in Constantinople Wo- 
man’s College. ‘They are fairer and brighter in 
colouring than the Armenians, Greeks or Persians, 
are rather taller and larger on an average, and have 
more energy and less languor than the Turks. 
Bulgarian girls incline to roundness of contour and 
figure, many of them having round, full faces, rosy 
mouths and dimples. This moon-faced effect is 
heightened by the fashion of wearing the hair in 
braids around the head. One sees plenty of dark 
hair in Bulgaria, but one also looks with pleasure 
on warm brown tints, chestnut tresses, and occa- 
sional auburn heads. One of the most beautiful 
girls I ever saw was a Bulgarian, with a glorious 
mass of copper-coloured waves, a clear pale skin 
like mother-of-pearl, well-set grey eyes, a delicate 
mouth with small white teeth, and the height and 
bearing of a princess. The bright cheeks of so 
many of the Bulgarians are a pleasant change 
from the dark and pale skins of most of the girls 
in the college. Their eyes are generally less large 
and languorous than Oriental eyes, looking you 


COMING DOWN FROM THE BALKANS 105 


squarely in the face, with more frankness and less 
seduction. 

The origin of the Bulgarian people and their 
relationship to the other Balkan nations is nat- 
urally of interest in these times of highly developed 
nationalism. The Bulgars are a branch of the 
great Slavic race, as are the Servians, Russians and 
Croatians. They are not, however, pure Slavs, 
having received an admixture of Tartar blood 
many centuries ago, a fact which is occasionally 
betrayed by the upward slant of the eye and the 
high cheek-bone. The Bulgarians are not fond of 
acknowledging their Touranian blood, and writhed 
somewhat when the Turks, in a burst of affability 
after Bulgaria entered the Great War, wrote in 
their journals of the blood relationship that made 
an alliance between Turks and Bulgarians so 
natural. 

All of these Slavic peoples except the Rouman- 
ians speak languages derived from a common old 
Slavic tongue, and sufficiently alike so that an edu- 
cated Bulgarian can read Russian or Servian with 
little difficulty; and they use a common alphabet, 
which is a modification of the Greek, including 
some queer compound sounds not in the Greek 
tongue, such as the first letter of the word Tschai- 
kowsky, which we transliterate by Tsch. The 
Bulgarian language is full of sibilants and English 
gutturals, but does not include the deep German or 
Armenian guttural. 


106 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


The names of some Bulgarian girls may give an 
idea of the sound of the language: Nadezhda, 
Nadelka, Zarafinka, Blagoya, Vessalina, Goonka, 
Zdravka. Diminutives are formed by the intro- 
duction of a K, for instance, Anna becomes Anka 
in the home, Elena, Elenka, and Ekaterina, Tinka. 
The last names all end in off for the men, and ova 
for the women, meaning son or daughter of. Thus 
Magthalena Petrova is Magdalene, daughter of 
Peter; Mara Angelova is Mara, daughter of 
Angelo. Family names are just coming into fash- 
ion, so that Peter Dimitroff’s son may call himself 
either Dimitroff or Petroff, in the former case 
making the name Dimitroff permanent in the fam- 
ily. One of the students illustrated this latitude in 
the matter of family names rather amusingly. She 
had been known in the college for years as Teeha 
Doncheva, bearing her father’s name, when, one 
day, deciding that it was more progressive to have 
an old family name, and at the same time exchange 
her diminutive for a more dignified name, she 
abruptly took to calling herself Theophanie Dan- 
ielova, to the great confusion of the records. 

When Russia was an insignificant country under 
Tartar or Polish dominion, and Byzantium ruled 
the Eastern Roman Empire, the Serbs and Bulgars 
were warlike nations on the northern frontier, con- 
tinually taking advantage of Byzantine weakness, 
often in bitter rivalry. Thus at one time a Greater 
Servian Empire occupied what is now Macedonia, 


COMING DOWN FROM THE BALKANS 107 


and pressed to the gates of Constantinople, and 
twice a Bulgarian Tsar extended his conquests to 
the Bosphorus, menacing Byzantine sovereignty. 
Bulgaria and Servia both, therefore, have what 
they regard as a glorious past to inspire them, and 
the country that was the arena of the two Balkan 
wars, 1912-’13, and was later harassed by the 
World War, has been possessed and governed in 
the past in turn by Greek, Serb, Bulgar and Turk. 
This fact is continually used in arousing the na- 
tionalism of the Balkan peoples, a nationalism that 
is greatly over-developed and was one of the im- 
mediate causes of the World War. There are few 
people prouder of their nationality than are the 
Bulgarians and Serbs. The Bulgarian students of 
Constantinople College were as haughty in their 
national pride as though all roads led to Sofia, and 
it were the summit of human glory to be a Bul- 
garian. It seemed a pleasant if rather amusing 
trait, but we have since realised that the aggressive 
nationalism of these south Europeans is dangerous 
and regretable. 

The past has created a great deal of antagonism 
between Bulgarians and Greeks, an antagonism 
that was heightened by their both belonging to the 
Orthodox Church, which gave the Greeks for cen- 
turies an ecclesiastical control over the Bulgars, 
and caused the latter to break away and form a 
separate church when, in 1876, they became po- 
litically free from Turkey. 


108 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


Another cause of friction between Bulgarians 
and Greeks is the difference in character. The 
Greek thinks himself superior to the Bulgarian in 
every way; the Bulgarian, on the other hand, re- 
gards the Greek as his inferior. So it is the 
world over. 

A Greek schoolmaster has been quoted as saying 
that as the Turkish conqueror had the claws and 
fangs of a tiger, the Greek has been forced to 
acquire the qualities of the fox. If the Turk at 
his worst had tigerish qualities and the Greeks a 
foxy nature, the Bulgarian in his persistence and 
solidity and lack of subtlety might be compared 
to a bulldog. 

In Constantinople Woman’s College, despite 
these racial and historical causes for friction, there 
has been a surprising amount of harmony between 
the Bulgarians and Greeks, and even one or two 
good friendships. But the feeling, so deep in their 
nature, would occasionally find expression, some- 
times rather amusingly. For instance, when Greek 
Chrysanthe accused Bulgarian Blagoya of having 
burned the Alexandrine library, it seemed rather 
an ancient grudge. But when Antigone and 
Thalia, who had lived peaceably among Bul- 
garian friends in Philipopolis, were driven from 
their home by an anti-Greek uprising, some 
years ago, it is not strange that they dropped 
their correspondence with Bulgarian school friends 
and expressed themselves bitterly, although, as 


COMING DOWN FROM THE BALKANS 109 


Tinka said with a shrug, “ What had I to do 
with it? ” 

This antagonism was at the bottom of the devas- 
tating little war that followed the war of the 
Balkan States against Turkey—the Second Balkan 
War of 1913. No one who knows the so-called 
Allies could conceive of their working together har- 
moniously after the war with Turkey was over; 
this was evidenced later in the Great War, during 
which the Bulgarians spoke far more bitterly 
against Servia than of the Great Powers they were 
fighting, and hated Greece much worse than they 
did England. 

The Bulgarians are mainly a peasant folk, living 
on the land and cultivating the soil. Under Turk- 
ish domination there was nothing else open to 
them. But since their independence, in 1876, they 
have developed along other lines as well, a small 
part of them becoming dwellers in cities, soldiers, 
merchants and officials. But they are primarily 
and most naturally children of the soil. 

There are neither the idle rich nor the abjectly 
poor in Bulgaria. The high and the low lead the 
simple life, and luxuries are hard to find. The 
men of the country are mainly peasants, but the 
women nurses during the Balkan War, 1912-713, 
all paid tribute to their courteous and respectful 
demeanor. 

These peasant people have very solid qualities, 
qualities that should take them far, and should 


110 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


never let them retrograde, for a gain made by per- 
sistence and sheer weight cannot be lost, as can 
that won by a trick. There is an initiative and a 
power of organisation in the Bulgarians that is 
unusual in the capricious and fatalistic Orient. 

The Bulgarian peasant, generally speaking, leads 
a very primitive, but healthful and active, life. 
The house is of the simplest, furnished lightly with 
mattresses on the floor and rude stools and tables. 
The mother has her spinning-wheel and sometimes 
her loom; she may also help her goodman in the 
tobacco field or the onion patch. She spins and 
weaves for her daughters the heavy cotton gar- 
ments that they wear, then embroiders them richly 
in bright reds, blues, and greens, and sews in bits 
of looking-glass and beads to make them gay. She 
cross-stitches their bright aprons and strings beads 
for their necks. 

A holiday in a Bulgarian village brings out a 
wonderful array of gaudy costume, straight and 
awkward in line, but most brilliant in colour deco- 
ration. The women’s big waists are usually em- 
phasised by huge silver buckles, which stand out 
almost grotesquely. When, however, a girl is 
young and pretty, her abundant curly hair, into 
which are braided bright threads or ribbons, with 
often a flower in her ear, her bright colour height- 
ened by the gay embroideries, and her slender fig- 
ure, which the straightness of her dress cannot 
spoil, make her an attractive vision. Of course 


COMING DOWN FROM THE BALKANS 111 


these gala costumes are laid aside during the work- 
ing days, for there is much work, especially in the 
summer when the days are long. In college the 
Bulgarians dress like Europeans, except for a 
national celebration. 

Many of the Bulgarian students had very sweet 
pure voices, and they formed a large part of the 
college chorus and choir. They used to be fond of 
singing their folk songs as they loitered in the 
garden. If we walked in the grounds after school 
hours we very often encountered a group of Bul- 
garian school girls, knitting busily or sauntering 
with intertwined arms, singing their pretty native 
melodies. Their songs are arranged in parts, 
which the pure Oriental singing never has. The 
girls used to sing a number of two-part songs in 
which their girlish voices sounded very sweet. 
Sometimes the songs were pure lyrics, but not un- 
commonly they were little ballads, telling a story 
of love or adventure. | 

Sometimes minor in their melody, as is most 
Oriental music, they were so often gay and 
sprightly in a full major key. The national song 
which the Bulgarians all sing with enthusiasm, 
‘“‘ Shumla Maritza,” is spirited and affective, with a 
martial swing. It takes its name from the river 
Maritza, where a decisive victory was once won by 
the Bulgarians. The Bulgarian peasant song is 
more like European music than are Turkish and 
most other Oriental songs. 


112 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


A girl in a Bulgarian village is not without her 
amusements. One of her tasks involves a social 
pleasure, for which she has a keen zest. As in the 
Bible times, all the water for a village must be 
drawn from one or two wells or springs, and these 
watering places or fountains are the scene of much 
sociability. Hither come all the youths and maid- 
ens of the village, and it is doubtful whether they 
hasten away as quickly as they might. The girls 
wear yokes on their shoulders, from which depend 
the pails they are to fill with the fresh water. 
Often the youths fill the pails for them; then, in 
return for such gallantry, they whisper a request 
for the flower over the maiden’s ear; or, bolder, 
perhaps, they steal the blossom. I was told of one 
fellow who annoyed a girl by taking the flower she 
-was reserving for a more favoured swain; so that 
the next time she filled her flower with snuff, and 
when Ilya filched it, and put it to his nose he was 
mastered by racking sneezes, while the other boys 
laughed and hooted. 

The youth of Bulgaria, as you see, have long 
been allowed to meet freely, the sexes not being 
kept apart as the Moslems used to be. There is 
coquetting and courting about the fountain and 
home gatherings in the evenings. Marriages spring 
from mutual attraction and choice rather than the 
arrangement of families, as do Armenian and 
Turkish alliances. 

There are husking-bees and quilting-bees where 


COMING DOWN FROM THE BALKANS 113 


the young people meet, but the most popular form 
of social entertainment is the sedanka. Here 
assemble the young men and women of the village 
and adjoining farms, chaperoned by some old lady, 
who putters about the hut, boiling corn on which 
the guests may regale themselves. The young 
people sit about the open fire in a circle, Stoiko 
next to his Keetsa, Vasilka closely pressed by 
Nancho, every laddie seeking his lassie. ‘Then 
some one sings a verse of a song, and when he has 
ended the chorus takes up a refrain and chants it. 
Some one else follows, using an old stanza; or, if 
he likes, composing a new one, and again the 
chorus follows him. 

This continues till all that they have to express 
has been said. Then the session ends, perhaps with 
a feast on the boiled corn, or perhaps with a folk 
dance. 

The Bulgarian folk dances are danced in a row 
or circle, the leader generally waving a bright 
handkerchief and turning and twisting about his 
line of followers, like a mild game of “ crack the 
whip.” There is stamping in ragtime, swinging of 
feet, clasped hands, skipping, and leaping—all 
mirthful, and much of it very pretty. This dance 
is a little like the English Morris dance and notice- 
ably different from the Eastern body dances or the 
Russian dances of pursuit, retreat, and final cap- 
ture. It suggests health and abounding spirits and 
good fellowship, without the sensuality that so 


114 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


often marks the Oriental dance. Here again one 
seems to feel the kinship of the Bulgarian of the 
South to the energetic peasant of the North. The 
music may be furnished by singing and clapping . 
of hands or by some instrument. 

Occasionally the sedanka ends in a dramatic 
fashion. Some brawny fellow who has been court- 
ing his Darka assiduously will seize her in his arms 
and carry her to his home. The next day this 
‘“‘ marriage by capture ” is given legal and religious 
sanction by the blessing of the Orthodox priest. I 
once asked Zarafinka what would happen if two 
men wanted the same girl. She replied simply: 
“The stronger would get her.” ‘“ And if she pre- 
ferred the other? ”’ ‘‘ Ah! if she were very clever 
she could help the weaker to take her, but usually 
she preferred the stronger. Generally the girl who 
is carried off was prepared for the capture.” 

Of course, the Bulgarian peasant is full of super- 
stition, and a good many quaint beliefs cling 
around fortune-telling, and how maidens may dis- 
cover their future husbands. The best time for 
such divination is not ALL HALLOW EVE, as with us, 
but early in the morning of St. John’s Day, in June. 

Life in a city is new to this generation of Bul- 
garians; for fifty years there were no Bulgarian 
cities—only great, straggling Turkish villages. 
Now there are a number of very creditable modern 
towns. Sofia, the capital and seat of court and 
parliament, is of rather remarkable growth. When 


COMING DOWN FROM THE BALKANS 115 


I visited the regular, new city, my first feeling was 
disappointment; for it is flat, devoid of pictur- 
esqueness, and at first sight uninteresting. 

But after all is it not interesting that a people so 
recently a dependent people, living in chaos, should 
now have a city of well paved and lighted streets, 
comfortable houses, an occasional monument, a 
plain, substantial royal palace, a public garden, and 
a well-equipped hotel and shops? 

The young ladies who showed me over their city 
were very proud of their schools and parliament 
building, which I naturally found very ordinary, 
and I confess to being bored by being. taken all 
over the fine new post-office and into every little 
room. But later it seemed to me to be significant 
that the things of most note in Sofia were the really 
useful and progressive factors in a modern city’s 
life—not galleries and museums and _ bazaars. 
Sofia has no past that it wishes to perpetuate. The 
old and valued traditions of Bulgaria cling about 
the ancient capital of Tirnova, or the famous Rila 
Monastery, but they mean far less to growing 
Bulgaria than does unromantic Sofia. 


TX 


ADMINISTERING AN AMERICAN 
COLLEGE IN THE ORIENT 


ESIDES the qualities necessary to the 
builder and president of a college in Amer- 
ica, the President of Constantinople Wo- 

man’s College required a number of other qualities. 
Dr. Patrick had to deal with a foreign government 
and a very complex international situation; there- 
fore, she must be a diplomat. That her diplomacy 
was based on a genuine good will towards the 
peoples among whom she lived, and that she was 
looking out for nothing for herself or for America, 
was, of course, a help. But besides this purity of 
motive, a great deal of tact and delicacy was often 
required to steer through the troubled waters of the 
Near East, and President Patrick had the ability 
to yield in nonessentials and to remain quietly firm 
in essentials, to please even when saying no, and 
to convey a sense of friendliness under all circum- 
stances that has been rarely equalled by Americans 
in the foreign field. 

In a country where all European schools have 
been centres of political intrigue and propaganda, 
and the schools of the Church have supported the 


116 


AN AMERICAN COLLEGE 117 


plans of the State, it was hard for a European or 
Oriental to appreciate the absolute selflessness and 
disinterestedness of the American schools and mis- 
sions. But that it was finally appreciated was 
shown by the Turkish friendliness manifested to 
Constantinople Woman’s College in many ways. 
Even under the suspicious rule of Abdul Hamid II. 
the college was freed from taxation and given many 
privileges. 

But the Sultan’s suspicion and distrust of all 
things Western showed itself in many ways. All 
of the books that came through the customs, unless 
under special protection, were censored and often 
confiscated. No books were to enter Turkey that 
mentioned the Ottoman Empire or the Moham- 
medan religion. This was so hard on history text- 
books that one copy of Redpath’s history that had 
been given the college lost just half of its volumes 
before it reached its destination. Even poetry and 
drama were not safe. From a set of Shakespeare’s 
plays were taken Hamlet and another play because 
of slighting reference to the Turk, and Julius 
Cesar because it told of the assassination of a 
ruler. Dante’s Divine Comedy was taboo because 
of the place the poet assigned to The Prophet, and 
Milton could not be admitted because he told the 
story of the great rebellion. In the physics de- 
partment, dynamos were refused at the customs 
house because of a fancied connection with dyna- 
mite. Once an invoice of tennis balls was denied 


118 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


admission because someone read it “ cannon balls.” 
Abdul Hamid would not allow telephones in his city 
because they got messages to places quicker than 
his spies could reach there, and _ typewriters 
were doubtful because on them one might hatch 
conspiracy. 

What made it at all possible for foreigners to 
work in Turkey was the “ capitulations,” as they 
called the special protection given originally by the 
Byzantines to foreign colonies. This protected 
European and American residents in Turkey, but 
not native teachers. The latter often had great 
difficulty in getting passports or permission to 
travel to the schools at the beginning of the school 
year. Another annoyance that very often began 
the year was the quarantine laid against supposed 
cholera, which would hold up students from enter- 
ing Turkey just as college opened. One September 
all the Bulgarian students were detained two 
weeks. 

The college was supposed to submit to govern- 
mental supervision and correction every lecture 
that was given, but naturally this was impossible 
and was never complied with. Once, however, a 
noted French orator was the guest of the college, 
and was to speak on the harmless theme of Broth- 
erly Love. A large number of guests were asked 
to meet and hear him. But the influential Catho- 
lics of the city incited the government to interfere 
and prevent his speaking. Two hours before the 


AN AMERICAN COLLEGE 119 


time set, word was received that his lecture might 
not be delivered, as it had not been submitted to 
the authorities in advance. The lecture was aban- 
doned but the reception was held. Europeans and 
Americans came, but guards stationed at the col- 
lege gate turned away all Turkish subjects. Spies 
were everywhere, even among the families of the 
students. 

All these restrictions were in time of peace, but 
in its history this institution had encountered many 
wars, several periods of massacre and a revolution 
and a counter revolution. The college in Scutari 
was surrounded by walls, and had Croat guards 
stationed at the gates, and the lowest windows were 
barred, so that the suggestion of possible danger 
was always there. Dr. Patrick and her lieutenants 
seemed always to live on the edge of a volcano. 

Once she was sitting on the deck of a Bosphorus 
steamer when a man near her uttered a horrible 
shriek and jumped into the sea. Her companion 
was severely shocked, but noticing Dr. Patrick’s 
calm, said a bit testily, ““Of course, you didn’t 
mind, you are so used to things happening.” In- 
deed, it is true that Dr. Patrick has seen so many 
“things happen” and has still been protected by 
God that she may well be calm and know that her 
work will stand. 

Within the college one of the great problems was 
to keep harmony between young women of eighteen 
different nationalities, of three great religions, and 


120 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


of all classes. This was most marvelously accom- 
plished. Lovely friendships sprang up between 
girls of enemy nations, and a general spirit of un- 
derstanding and love was exhibited. 

For forty years President Patrick, with love in 
her heart for all the Eastern nations and partiality 
for none, with compassion for the distressed wher- 

-———~ever she found them, and an understanding of their 
difficulties, has kept from saying one untactful 
word, from offending one person, from irritating 

\ one sensitive nationality. This is a great achieve- 
| _ ment and the source of much of her influence. 

The variety of students meant a great difference 
in preparation, and consequently a difficult prob- 
lem for the registrar. How to classify a Rou- 
manian girl, for instance, who had had a fair 
preparatory schooling in Roumania, and was an 
advanced student of French, but knew no English. 

The college is conducted in English. A few of 
the students enter with a knowledge of that lan- 
guage, some having learned a smattering from the 
mission schools, and some having a better knowl- 
edge. But most of the girls do not know English. 
If they enter the Preparatory School, they get the 
language through the ordinary studies, and by es- 
pecial English classes. But the harder problem is 
with those entering the college, even sometimes 
ready for the junior class, without English. 
English is absolutely necessary. To begin with, 
the professors, who must be American, are seldom 


AN AMERICAN COLLEGE 121 


qualified to teach in any other language, and nearly 
all the text-books come from America, and the 
whole plan is American. Then, with eighteen na- 
tionalities, which language would one pick out to 
be the college tongue? Unfortunately not Turk- 
ish, which is very difficult, and in 1900 was known 
by only a few of the students and none of the 
American teachers well enough to teach in it, and 
which had few text-books that could be used. 
French is a well known tongue in the East, but the 
college is based on English and feels that a knowl- 
edge of English literature is one of the fine things 
that it has to offer. This necessitated a bookroom 
in which the text-books were kept and sold to the 
girls, and the distance from the base of supplies 
often worked hardship. 

The Orientals are fond of languages and wish to 
study them. A good many had to be offered in the 
college. Each of the nationalities most largely 
represented in the college had to study its vernacu- 
lar. So, full courses in Greek, ancient and modern, 
Armenian, ancient and modern, Turkish with a 
background of Arabic and Persian, and Bulgarian 
with old Slavic were given. This necessitated a 
large staff of language instructors, even where 
classes were very small. Strong French and Ger- 
man courses were also given, and some Latin. As 
the language courses developed in the college, it 
came to be the requirement that every student 
should study English, and either French or Ger- 


122 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


man, and her vernacular, if it were taught in the 
college. For instance, a Greek would study En- 
glish, probably French, and ancient and modern 
Greek, and often would ask to take Turkish or 
German. An English or other northern European 
student was expected to take Latin with either 
French or German. The students learned English 
with facility, conducting debates, acting plays and 
even writing verse in that tongue. All public exer- 
cises were in English unless the occasion were a 
special vernacular or French one. ‘Today, the 
Turkish language is taught to all students who are 
residents of Turkey. 

Before the Great War, one curious complication 
arose over the national and religious holidays. 
Fancy living in a country where there were four 
regular calendars: the year that we are used to, 
generally called “new style,” the “old style” 
observed by the Greeks and Slavs, the Jewish cal- 
endar and the Turkish calendar. Of course we 
followed our form, but we had to observe certain 
dates of the others. In the year we had to observe 
three New Year’s Days, three Christmases and two 
Easters, besides two Turkish “‘ Bairams,” or feasts, 
one Turkish fasting month, Ramazan, and several 
Hebrew feasts. There was an attempt to let each 
group follow its own feasts and fasts, but it was 
hard on the cooks to prepare separate tables for the 
Greeks who were fasting one way for their Easter, 
and the Turks who were fasting in quite another 


AN AMERICAN COLLEGE 123 


way for their Bairam. How to give Christmas 
holidays that should accommodate all the Chris- 
tians was a puzzle each year. The first Christmas 
belonged to the Latins, as they called all the West- 
erners, and came on December 25th, N.S. Two 
weeks later came the Greek Christmas, on Decem- 
ber 25th, O. S., and two weeks after that came the 
Armenian Christmas, on Twelfth Night, O. S., and 
each Christmas lasted three days! It was simplest 
never to put our “ Latin ” Christmas into the holi- 
days, so that day was set aside as a solitary holi- 
day, and as all the students were in the college it 
became the college Christmas. 

It was a very attractive Christmas, in the early 
years of the century. It began the midnight before 
with the singing of carols by a group of musical 
girls, who sang before the doors or windows of all 
the teachers. There were especial Christmas pray- 
ers the next morning, and then the Americans and 
a few Europeans who could not go to relatives, had 
a Christmas dinner with turkey and mince pie as 
much like home as possible. An evening party and 
many charming presents from the girls made the 
day gay. The later Christmases were observed for 
those students who could not get home, by special 
Oriental dishes and an evening party. 

During the early history of the college there were 
even two time systems, for the Turkish time was 
apparent solar days with apparent lunar months. 
The latter did not concern the college, but the days 


124 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


did, for all the Bosphorus boats ran on Turkish 
time, and one had continually to calculate when the 
sun had set and whether he was to subtract or add 
that time to make his boat. All this has come to 
an end, for the Western calendar has now been 
completely adopted. 

Still another complication due to the cosmopoli- 
tan situation of the college was the varied coinage. 
Turkish money, with its difference between gold 
and silver standards was vexing enough, but when, 
in addition, in an afternoon’s shopping, one re- 
ceived in change gold pieces of English, Austrian, 
French, German and Turkish currency, that was 
worse. Moreover, in those days there was never 
enough small change, but one had to patronise the 
money changers, who had little stands on the cor- 
ners, and buy one’s change, losing something every 
time one changed the equivalent to a dollar or a 
larger coin. Furthermore, it was wise to look out 
for clipped, sweated or worn coins. All this is also 
a condition of the past, for by 1917 all currency 
ceased, and only Turkish paper was in circulation. 
The old confusion ceased, although some difficulties 
resulting from post-war effect on exchange took 
its place. 

We may truly say that administering an Ameri- 
can college in the Orient has always been a most 
complicated matter, although with the advance that 
Turkey and her neighbours have made, many of 
the curious old difficulties have disappeared. 


AN AMERICAN COLLEGE (125 


Two expressions of what the college stood for 
are to be found in the favourite college song, writ- 
ten by Edith Carter, an American student in the 
early days, and the college hymn which I wrote 
in 1905. 


COLLEGE SONG 


At the center of the world 

All the lands around thee, 

Orient and Occident 

With their best have crowned thee. 


Cuorus :—Oh, our College, tried and true 
We will love thee ever, 
Alma Mater and the Blue, 
We'll forget thee, never. 


At thy feet the Bosphorus 

Ines tn all its glory 

’Neath the towers and the mosques 
Famed in song and story. 


From the shores of Greece we come, 
Or the Danube’s waters, 
Or from ancient Ararat, 
We, thy loyal daughters. 


Tho’ we wander far away 

We will love thee ever 

Lessons deep we learn from thee, 
To forget, no never. 


126 


AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


OUR COLLEGE 


Our College, in thine honour 
A hymn to thee we raise; 
The power that thou hast given 
We use it to thy praise. 
For care-free golden playtime, 
Friendships both sweet and true, 
For years of kindly shelter 
Our thanks to thee are due. 


O College dear, we praise thee 
For pointing to the stars 
With faith and hope unswerving 
Which no weak viston mars. 
Thy service unrestricted 
By race or class or creed; 
Thy love so freely offered, 
Its only clavm—our need. 


O College, we would thank thee, 
With minds that thou hast trained, 
For growth and chance of growing, 
For strength of purpose gained; 
For worlds that thou hast opened, 
Thoughts that enrich all life, 
For heavenward raised ideals, 
For power of noble strife. 


xX 
A FIRE AND A REMOVAL 


HE new American College for Girls very 
soon won recognition both in other institu- 
tions and with the public. At the Colum- 

bian International Exposition, held in Chicago, in 
1893, this college had an exhibit in the educational 
section with the colleges for women that had re- 
ceived American charters, and was awarded a 
bronze medal and a certificate of excellence. Soon 
after, its diploma was accepted for entrance to all 
the universities of Europe except the University of 
London, which required more Latin than the 
American College gave. 

The favour of the Oriental people was won 
partly by the excellent work done by the college 
and partly by the tact and charm of the president. 
One member of the faculty wrote, ‘“‘ The splendid 
idealism of Dr. Patrick energises and uplifts 
everything and everybody around her and gives 
her the confidence and trust of this Oriental 
public.” Would-be students begged to be taken 
into the college or its preparatory school re- 
gardless of insufficient accommodation. In the 
necessity to provide for the increased number 


127 


128 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


of students, larger financial support must be 
provided. 

The straits to which the treasurers were put and 
the woeful sense of handicap and longing for funds 
were pathetic. Occasionally visitors from America 
or Europe would visit the college and sometimes 
make it a substantial present. One rather comical 
incident was the visit of a wealthy American couple 
to the college, and their apparent appreciation of 
the trouble taken to entertain them. On leaving, 
they requested to see the president alone. As she 
had given them her room for their stay, she came 
to one of the professors and asked the loan of her 
room in which to receive them. When she returned 
to the waiting professor, she told dryly how the 
visitors had expressed admiration of all that they 
had seen and begged her acceptance of—a second- 
hand copy of a popular novel! ‘The two ladies in- 
dulged in a laugh that was near to tears. 

A more profitable visit was that of Mrs. LeBou- 
tillier, in 1903. This resulted in several large gifts, 
the first being from her mother, Mrs. Henry 
Woods, of Boston, who gave $62,000.00 for im- 
mediate relief, specifying its application. In 
March, she contributed $8,000.00 of this money 
for the introduction of a plant supplying heat, 
light and water to the two main buildings. This 
had strange and unexpected consequences, as we 
shall see later. 

The putting in of this plant brought out the 


A FIRE AND A REMOVAL 129 


curious contrast of the methods of the East and 
the West, in fact it was not the first time that these 
Americans saw the difficulty of ‘hustling the 
East.”’ The American steel boiler was brought into 
the college yard, having been drawn up the hill by 
four great buffalos decorated with blue beads and 
red tassels with their green yokes surmounted by a 
tall decorated structure, the whole escorted by ten 
shouting men. The students gathered around it 
with great enthusiasm and gave three cheers for 
the boiler and three cheers for Mrs. Woods. 

In 1895, an important gift was made to the col- 
lege by the Turkish government. An Iradé, which 
is an Imperial, unchangeable edict of the Sultan, 
was granted to the college, placing the college 
property in the name of the corporation and hold- 
ing it strictly to educational work. This Iradé 
was obtained after some years of effort and the 
payment of bakshish or fees, to the amount of 
$2,615.41. Sultan Abdul Hamid also released the 
property from taxation, making this liberality, by 
the aid of Judge Terrel, the American Minister 
Plenipotentiary, and Mr. Henry Dwight, a mis- 
sionary, his defence against the charge of antagon- 
ism to the Christians in the massacres of 1895-6. 

The by-laws attached to the new charter of the 
college gave more power to the Woman’s Board of 
Missions than it had had before, and seemed to 
bind the college to a narrow financial policy and 
hence a restricted growth. Instead of raising the 


: 


130 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


money that was so insistently demanded the trus- 
tees drew for current expenses on the $10,000.00 
that had been given by Mr. Wilder for endowment. 

President Patrick went to America in the winter 
of 1903-4, burning with anxiety for the future of 
the college. There she made warm friends of the 
college, and with her devoted ally, Miss Borden, she 
organised an advisory committee, of which Charles 
Cuthbert Hall, President of Union Theological 
Seminary, was chairman, and other very strong 
names were added. This committee worked for 
two things: the independence of the college from 
the Mission Board, and its adequate endowment. 

New buildings and equipment were needed, and 
it was time that President Patrick should be able 
to offer her faculty more than the meagre mission- 
ary salary. There had been attempts to buy ad- 
joining land for some years, but the owners held it 
for an exorbitant price. The Preparatory School 
was housed in an old Turkish building that was so 
dilapidated that the snow and rain came into the 
teachers’ bedrooms. Mrs. Henry Woods had 
designated some of her money to be spent in build- 
ing a new preparatory school, but the matter of 
buying land adjoining the college grounds dragged 
on for years, as the owners thought the Americans 
had to have the land at any price. Then the 
strange consequences of the gift of a heating 
plant appeared and turned the situation as by a 
Providence. 


A FIRE AND A REMOVAL 131 


We have been told that putting new wine into 
old bottles is unwise. The new heating plant em- 
ployed the old chimney to Barton Hall, which 
proved not big enough, so that a disastrous fire was 
the result. On the evening of December 13, 1905, 
the students had just retired to their dormitories 
when smoke and flame flared out in Barton Hall. 
The girls’ fire brigade was quickly on duty with fire 
extinguishers, lines of buckets and hose. This 
proving quite inadequate, the fire department of 
Scutari came to their assistance. But the fire 
was rapid and greedy, and by dawn Barton Hall 
was a pile of smoking ruins. An eye-witness wrote 
of the tragedy of that night: 

‘“‘ Barton Hall has been burned, and all the world 
is topsy-turvy. I could think of nothing but that 
we were in a state of siege—the howling mob out- 
side the walls, the tolumbagees (native firemen) 
with their picturesque costumes and their long 
pikes, the military fire company with their helmets 
and their bugle signals, the soldiers everywhere 
and the grand decorated individuals on horseback 
sent by His Majesty, and in the midst of it Barton 
Hall a mass of flames in the black night. There 
was nothing left but to watch the efforts of the men 
to save Bowker Building and to try to guard the 
saved property from being stolen. But oh, the 
primitiveness of it all! No implements for tearing 
down the corridor between Barton and Bowker 
Halls, and only those weird little tolombas with a 


¢ 


132 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


sort of bath tub arrangement kept full of hand 
pails and a syringe for hose. I cannot yet see how 
Bowker Building was saved. Nothing but the 
-absence of wind and the providence of God did it.” 

The splendid part of the night was the coolness 
and calm of the students. When you think how 
uncontrolled the ordinary Oriental girl had been, 
and how helpless, the picture of these quiet, con- 
trolled young women, walking through the stormy 
night, some of them in their night clothes, and 
others with only a few things snatched in passing, 
going stripped of all their possessions to a place of 
refuge, you can see what a wonderful thing the 
college had given them. And the neighbours were 
filled with amazement and admiration. That night 
did more to establish the college in the respect of 
the townsmen than any other thing had ever done. 
The girls made no fuss over the exposure and the 
personal loss, but wept only for the loss of the 
college. 

President Patrick reflected this impression made 


on the public when she wrote: “ The calamity has 


set the whole country on the qui vive to help the 
college. We have never before had such enthusi- 
astic support. Letters and resolutions of sympathy 
have poured in.” 

The hardships of the next year were harder to 
bear than the tragic night. Somehow, by renting 
small adjoining buildings, the students were all 
housed. The teachers crowded into smaller quar- 


A FIRE AND A REMOVAL 133 


ters, and gave up the guest room, and the office 
went into the drawing-room and classes were held 
in the teachers’ sitting room. The girls had lost 
their auditorium and their gymnasium, but the 
Armenian chapel near by lent its auditorium for 
many exercises, and the girls had their physical 
exercises in the garden or between the seats in the 
study hall. Yet in spite of all depressing circum- 
stances, applications for entrance increased. 

But the burning of half of the college raised an 
interesting question, why rebuild in Scutari? And 
at this time, like a star in the darkness, arose the 
possibility of purchasing property on the European 
' shore of the Bosphorus and erecting an entirely 
new college. To this end the next years were 
devoted. 

Above the village of Arnautkeuy, six miles from 
Pera, was situated a property of fifty-four acres, 
including a beautiful wooded park and several old 
buildings. This was owned by an Armenian fam- 
ily, who, being resident in Paris, wished to sell it. 
To us in the West, where, if you want property 
you buy it and pay for it and take possession, it 
would seem almost incredible the diplomacy and 
secrecy and business skill required to put through 
the deal, and the obstructions put in the way by 
greed, suspicion and politics. But Mary Mills 
Patrick, patient and smiling, possessed all these 
qualities. And she was supported at every point 
by William W. Peet, Treasurer of the American 


134 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


Missions in Turkey. His knowledge and charac- 
ter, with his ability and wise judgment, had made 
him the advisor of ambassadors and the adminis- 
trator of millions of relief funds that had been sent 
to Turkey. In this affair, his clear perception, his 
exact methods of executing business on principles 
of equity and his requiring of records of evidence 
on important decisions, gave him the mastery of all 
strategic points. 

In telling the story of this transfer of property, 
I shall follow closely the account of Miss Borden, 
occasionally using her exact words. 


“Enlarging the college was a long, weary and 
rugged way, extending from Constantinople to 
Paris and across the ocean to America. There 
must be compliance with intricate real estate 
claims; tangles of taxes and land dues of a hundred 
years, and various degrees of inheritance must be 
settled, duplicity of governments and individuals 
must be surmounted; thousands of dollars must 
be raised for the purchase of property. 

“Week after week and month after month 
President Patrick and Mr. Peet gave watchful care 
for the property at Arnautkeuy in unity of purpose. 
To this President Patrick added the administration 
of the college. Her splendid idealism everywhere 
gave energy and uplift in personal influence on 
every condition of affairs. In secret conference 
with holders of the estate, in scores of interviews 
with agents and lawyers, in journeyings across land 
and sea, in days of conference in diplomacy in 


A FIRE AND A REMOVAL 135 


Washington, on adding cables and telegrams to let- 
ters, she toiled up the hill of conquest with able 
defenders all along the way.” 


It was learned that adjoining land which would 
connect the Heights with the shore of the Bos- 
phorus, which was essential to the college, could 
be obtained. At this point a most serious crisis 
arose. The vendors of the Heights made a final 
closing of their contract to depend on the pur- 
chase of the adjoining property. The whole mat- 
ter was contained in a cablegram from Constanti- 
nople to the trustees, who grasped the situation 
and voted an immediate cable to the committee at 
Constantinople to purchase the two sections at 
once. The purchase of the Arnautkeuy property 
for $57,400 was completed in October, 1907. But 
the deeds for the property were retained, locked up 
in the Bureau of Deeds of the Ottoman govern- 
ment, and it seemed impossible to make any further 
progress. 

President Patrick went to America to take up 
the case of the withheld property and had inter- 
views with Elihu Root, Secretary of State, and 
with President Roosevelt, but nothing was accom- 
plished. In the meantime the Sultan appealed to 
Dr. Peet for the relinquishing of the American 
claim on the Arnautkeuy property in order that the 
property might be acquired for His Majesty’s civil 
list. In this interview Dr. Peet pointed out to the 


136 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


Secretary that the American purpose in Turkey 
was only to bestow enlightenment on the people. 
The Secretary threw up his hands, exclaiming, 
“ Enlightenment! now you have struck the chord 
which continues to hold the deeds locked up; the 
Sultan detests this enlightenment which will de- 
stroy his dominance over the people.”’ | 
The matter seemed almost hopeless, when sudden 
success was brought about by the Revolution of 
the Young Turks, in July, 1908. Dr. Peet took 
immediate advantage of the change of attitude 
towards “‘ enlightenment ” as well as towards for- 
eigners, and pushed the business to a conclusion. 
The drama of the Arnautkeuy deeds culmi- 
nated in three days of August, 1908. The twelfth, 
Thursday, was spent by the representatives of the 
purchaser and the vendor in the Department of 
the Bureau of Deeds of the Imperial Archives of 
the Ottoman government, watching every oppor- 
tunity for claiming the deeds so closely that their 
mid-day meal of bread and cheese was brought to 
them by a messenger. Friday, the thirteenth, the 
Mohammedan Sabbath, was employed in making 
fresh official copies of the deeds at a retired place 
on the upper Bosphorus, several miles from the 
capital. Saturday, the fourteenth, was a decisive 
day for Constantinople College in the Bureau of 
Deeds. Dr. Peet, who represented the purchaser, 
and the representative of the vendor resumed their 
places in the Bureau of Deeds to participate in the 


A FIRE AND A REMOVAL 137 


proceedings of the day, not leaving their posts for 
a moment till summoned to the official room where 
transfers of property are made. In this room 
Ottomans in white and green turbans were as- 
sembled. In their midst was the judge. He rose 
with solemn mien and read the long scrolls of the 
six deeds of the Arnautkeuy property and named 
the vendor and the vendee; he also stated the sum 
paid as the purchase price. This was followed by 
laconic questions and answers. 

Addressing the agent of the vendor the judge 
said, ‘‘ Have you sold this property? ” The agent 
replied, “ I have.” 

Addressing Dr. Peet, the judge pehed “‘ Have 
you purchased this property? ” to which Dr. Poet 
replied, “I have.” The judge added, ‘‘ Have you 
paid the purchase money?” Dr. Poet replied, 
“ T have.” 

The judge, turning to the agent of the vendor, 
then said, “Have you received the purchase 
money? ” to which he replied, “ I have.” 

The judge then, holding forth the six long deeds 
in which the property was fully described, solemnly 
pronounced the words, “ The sale is consummated; 
the transfer is complete.” 

This form of transfer of property by the Otto- 
man government dates from antiquity. The seals 
of several departments of the Ottoman government 
were affixed to the deeds. Dr. Peet, holding fast 
to the precious documents, with a delightful sense 


138 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


of freedom, emerged from the forum of contro- 
versy into the open square. 

Dr. Peet immediately dispatched two cablegrams 
to America, one to Dr. James Levi Barton, in whose 
name the purchase had been made, and one to 
Mary Mills Patrick, the president of the college, 
who happened to be in America at the time, an- 
nouncing the transfer of the deeds of the Arnaut- 
keuy property by the Ottoman government to Dr. 
Barton. Dr. Barton at once passed the holding 
of the deeds to the Trustees of the American Col- 
lege for Girls at Constantinople in Turkey, the 
legal owners of the property. The six deeds 
were securely locked up in the iron safety vault 
in the building of the American Embassy in 
Constantinople. 

In further compliance with Turkish law, in Sep- 
tember, 1908, application was made to the Otto- 
man Government for the right to locate the college 
at Arnautkeuy, with the continuation of whatever 
privileges had been enjoyed by the institution at 
Scutari under the Sultan’s Iradé; also for the right 
to erect such buildings now and in the future as 
shall be necessary for carrying on the work of the 
college and preparatory school. All of these re- 
quests were granted by the Ottoman government. 

During the years that this tedious business was 
dragging along, the college was pursuing the even 
tenor of its way. But one change of the first im- 
portance took place. The college gained its inde- 


A FIRE AND A REMOVAL 139 


pendence from the American Board of Missions. 
This grew out of the work of the Advisory Board 
that had been formed by the president in 1904, in 
New York City, at a time when she was in America 
to raise funds. The effects of this Board of able 
and influential men and women was immediately 
seen in college affairs. In November, 1906, a re- 
vised charter for the college was adopted, allowing 
an independent Board of Trustees. This at once 
admitted men to the Board and also made it unde- 
nominational, thus greatly increasing its liberty of 
action. From the old members of the Board came 
onto the new Board, Miss Caroline Borden, Mrs. 
Pauline Durant, and two others, who however did 
not remain long. Other members were drawn from 
the efficient Advisory Committee, and some others 
were added. Charles Cuthbert Hall was elected 
president, serving until his death, a short time 
after. New by-laws seemed to start the college on 
a very progressive road. 

Of Mrs. Durant and her long interest in the 
school, Miss Borden wrote: 


“Mrs. Henry Durant was in the initiative pur- 
pose of this institution. When working with Mr. 
Durant, in 1871, in laying the foundation of Wel- 
lesley College, Mrs. Durant was at the same time 
engaged in laying the foundations of a sister college 
far away in Constantinople to give to the daughters 
of the Levant that education and refinement which 
was in the Durant vision for Wellesley College. 


140 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


Always a trustee of the institution, she has courag- 
eously battled its difficulties, has given to it con- 
stant discerning care with wise counsels, and has 
met its many emergencies with financial aid. The 
library of the college contains many beautiful 
books presented by Mrs. Durant, the Friend 
Beautiful.” 


Of course, to the newly chartered college, funds 
were a prime necessity. The Mission Board had 
carried the salaries of seven American teachers, 
and this help was withdrawn, but the old Board 
generously presented the property at Scutari to the 
college. Insurance from the burning of Barton 
Hall was very grateful. When the college with- 
drew from missionary protection, three teachers 
who had ranked as missionaries forfeited their 
claim to pension or care in their old age; namely: 
Dr. Patrick, Miss Dodd and Miss Prime. Al- 
though their salaries were soon raised, it showed 
great unselfishness on their part to give up this 
small but sure dependence. Money was impera- 
tively needed for an endowment that should look 
after salaries, and for new buildings. Dr. Patrick 
had to come to America and lead the tireless, de- 
voted, persistent life of a money-raiser. She had 

one this before, having come in the years of 
1899-1900, and of 1903-1904, but the two years 
of 1907 to 1909 were the most straining she had 
experienced. How she hated money-raising! But 
she did it well, her hopeful smile never fading. 


A FIRE AND A REMOVAL 141 


Aided by her admirable trustees, she succeeded in 
putting the claims of this Oriental college so vividly 
before the American public that in two years’ time 
she secured several large gifts, the largest being 
from Miss Helen Gould, now Mrs. Finley Shep- 
herd, Mrs. Russel Sage and Mr. Charles Converse. 
In her absence from Constantinople, the college 
was well administered by Dr. Roxana Vivian, of 
Wellesley College, a young woman of fine character 
and scholarship, who had been professor of mathe- 
matics in Constantinople Woman’s College the 
preceding year. 


XI 
THE TURKISH GIRLS WHO DARED 


URING the reign of Abdul Hamid IT. there 
were in Constantinople Woman’s College 
very few Turkish girls. There were, in 

fact, only a little group who cared so much for 
schooling that they would slip into the college a 
few days after the opening, and slip out when there 
was no crowd, keep secluded from visitors and 
hope that the Sultan would not hear of it through 
his spies and take them out. Once two aristocratic 
children had been in the preparatory school about 
a week when His Majesty sent word to their father 
that he had never found it necessary to attend a 
“‘ Ghaiour ” school, nor was it desirable for these 
girls. So a major domo came with a yellow plush 
carriage and carried away two weeping little girls. 

But a few did manage to take the course. The 
first Turkish girl to win an American diploma was 
Gulistan Hanum,* in 1890, the last year of the 
High School. She was a sweet, attractive girl, as 
her name, which means “ Garden of Roses,” might 
suggest. When she married, her husband, Assim 

*“Hanum” is a title applied to both single and married 


women. 
142 


THE TURKISH GIRLS WHO DARED 143 


Bey, much pleased with her trained mind, learned 
English of her, encouraged her in literary work, 
and conceived a great admiration for American 
education. Their daughter, Nourinissa, graduated 
from the college in 1921. 

One of the most remarkable students that the 
college ever trained was Halideh Hanum, class of 
1901, the first Turkish woman to receive the de- 
gree of Bachelor of Arts. When she was a little 
girl, she was put into the preparatory school. The 
government objected again and again to her taking 
a Western education, and occasionally removed her 
from the school, but her father was so impressed 
with her intellectual possibilities that he deliber- 
ately sacrificed his own advancement to keep her 
in school. She was a conspicuously fine student, 
especially in philosophy, astronomy and literature, 
and early showed a talent for writing. Of the 
brilliant career of this women, who has since been 
called the Joan of Arc of Turkey, we shall hear 
more later. 

There have been great changes in the treatment 
accorded to Turkish women within the last sixteen 
years, so that it is simpler here to tell of the Turk- 
ish girls as they lived the life of the harem in the 
time of Sultan Abdul Hamid. 

“Harem ” is a word to which a great deal of 
romance and mystery has attached. But a harem 
is just a home, or at least half a home. A Turk’s 
harem is simply his womenfolk. It might consist 


144 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


of his mother, his wife and his two daughters, or it 
might consist of his four wives, a dozen children 
and several concubines. The word “harem” (ac- 
cented on the last syllable) means ‘ taboo” or 
set apart, and the name is often transferred to the 
place in which the women are thus set apart. 
Every old-time Turkish house consisted of two 
parts, the harem or women’s apartments, and the 
salamlik or men’s apartments. Generally the door 
opened on to a courtyard, from which a double 
flight of stairs ascended, the one leading to harem, 
the other to the salamlik, the two parts just alike 
except that the windows in the harem were heavily 
latticed, while those in the salamlik stared down 
the street. The father and sons lived in the salam- 
lik and the mother and daughters in the harem. 
The oldest lady used to be known as the Byuk 
Hanum, or Great Lady, and was in a sense the 
mistress of the house. I say, in a sense, because 
really in Turkey the man is—if I may be Irish— 
the mistress of the house. He was often the house- 
keeper and usually did the marketing unless a man 
servant relieved him. The duties of a Turkish 
wife were few. It was this lack of authority in the 
household that kept many harems placid and con- 
tent and did away with the jealousy that springs up 
in the West between daughter and much-maligned 
mother-in-law. 

To the Turk in the old times the woman was the 
life-giver, the preserver of the race, to be set apart, 


THE TURKISH GIRLS WHO DARED 145 


to be guarded from other men, to be treated only 
as a wife and mother, to be tenderly protected. 
The Turkish lady did not work, had no responsi- 
bilities, no hardships; she had merely to please and 
bear children. Such a life was easy and comfort- 
able and gratified a large class of women who knew 
nothing better or who were sensuous and lazy. 
Following this idea of guarding the women from 
curious and desirous eyes, Turkish women were 
shrouded in the charshaf,* heavily veiled, kept be- 
hind lattices or high walls when at home, and 
accompanied by eunuchs when abroad. They 
might not eat in a restaurant nor sleep at a hotel 
nor attend a theatre, except when their quarters 
were partitioned from those of the men, nor even 
attend a mosque service in company with men. A 
Moslem woman was permitted to know no men but 
her father, her husband and her sons. 

A little Turkish girl, before she put on the 
charshaf, was as free as her brothers, and was a 
cherished and sufficiently amused little person. 
She often went with other children to the mosque 
school, a little white kerchief over her head; she 
had beautiful times with her father on the feasts 
or Bairams, seeing the Karagueze puppet shows or 
swinging in the public swings and merry-go-rounds 
in the open lots. 


* “ Charshaf ” means literally “sheet,” and was used for 
the garment that concealed the figure and was always worn 
out-of-doors. In time it came to be a stylishly cut cloak 
with cape over the head. 


146 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


Then suddenly came a change. At twelve or 
fourteen years of age, she was shut off from her 
world of boys and men teachers and free outings 
with her father. She was not now permitted to go 
out unless she was dressed in a silk cloak and in- 
verted cape coming over her head, with a thick veil 
shutting out all air and light. She had to stay in 
the harem part of the house with the women, and 
might seldom go from home unless protected by a 
eunuch or other servant. After this, her life was 
very restricted and empty. In such a life, a for- 
eign school was a wonderful opening of windows. 

Most Turkish girls married between the ages of 
twelve and eighteen. What else was there for them 
to do? But the girl had little to say in the matter. 
Her marriage was arranged either by a professional 
match-maker, or by her parents, and very rarely 
even in the most Europeanised household was she 
at all consulted. One girl, however, was unusually 
well treated by her father, who gave her the choice 
between two photographs! 

Polygamy was still legally proper in Moslem 
lands, as Mohammed and the law after him permits 
four wives. Once I was rowed across the Bos- 
phorus by two fine sturdy Turks, apparently father 
and son. When I inquired as to the family, the 
father told me that he had many sons and three 
wives. ‘One works for me here in Constantinople 
and two in the country where I go in the winter; 
they bring in much money.” Among the peasants 


THE TURKISH GIRLS WHO DARED 147 


plural marriages may be, as this was, an economic 
success, but in the upper classes, plural wives are 
becoming a great burden. Mohammed ruled that a 
man must treat his wives just alike, giving them 
all similar establishments and clothes and servants. 
In the simple old days when all a wife wished was 
plenty of turquoises and Mecca stones and rich 
brocades and black and white slaves, it was easier 
to keep four wives than now, when they may bank- 
rupt you by demanding four French governesses 
and four grand pianos. So the latter-day Turk is 
fain to satisfy himself with one wife at a time. 

Divorce is pleasingly easy in Mohammedan 
lands. Both men and women can divorce simply 
because they desire it. But there used to be a 
financial loss; when a man divorced his wife he 
must return to her every piaster of her dowry, 
while she could not divorce him without forfeiting 
her marriage settlement. If they once more 
changed their minds as to each other’s charms they 
might remarry. A man might also have concu- 
bines in his house, and all his children were equally 
legitimate. All these possible changes made family 
life a fluctuating and varied state. 

But plural marriages are not necessarily un- 
happy; women are less jealous of fellow-wives than 
of women whom they suspect outside, and often 
their dull lives are brightened by another woman in 
the house. The rights of each wife in her husband 
are carefully regulated by law. 


148 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


A man, in choosing a wife, might take a lady of 
his own class and people, or be given a Circassian 
slave girl, or, if a villain, he might abduct a Chris- 
tian maiden, or he might even take to his bosom 
a black slave from Abyssinia, or have all of these 
at once. Very occasionally he married a European 
woman, but rarely, for few Christian women were 
willing to accept the restrictions of a Moslem 
household. 

A slave was often preferred to a free Moslem 
woman because marriage with her was so much 
cheaper, involving none of the expensive ante- 
nuptial presents and marriage festivities. Of 
course, a woman ceases to be a slave, normally at 
least, as soon as she was married, and indeed all 
slaves might demand their freedom at the end of 
seven years in any case. The fact that few did 
wish their freedom showed both how light was the 
yoke and how nearly like slavery was the ordinary 
state of a wife. 

But by 1900, Turkish life was becoming increas- 
ingly Europeanised, and the sentiment for monog- 
amy was growing. The Mohammedan law, even 
then, gave woman a better status than she had in 
any other country except the United States of 
America. The Koranic law, and still more, a later 
Baghdad code very justly protected individual lib- 
erty without regard to sex, and gave woman full 
control of her property. Any woman might sue 
and be sued, alienate or bequeath property with- 


MOI IOMO] FO] IY} WO, PAY UNULFA A[SeN ‘19}U9D MOF Joddn ut unuePT 1emsiny 


SINHCGNALS 
WHISOW THRO; Os Vib AH a7 Id OHM: S Tol Hsindn wl NAAaS 








THE TURKISH GIRLS WHO DARED 149 


out marital authorisation or even knowledge. The 
Moslem law of inheritance was not, however, so 
free from sex discriminations; a daughter inherited 
only one share of her father’s wealth, while a son 
received two shares, and a widow with children 
inherited but one-eighth of her husband’s property, 
or one-fourth if she were childless. 

In 1900, all of these legal advantages, except 
control of property, were theoretical rather than 
in common practice. Few women knew of them, 
and still fewer were able to act on them, for when 
the Chelebi (master) had all the money and en- 
gaged the servants, and could lock up his wife, the 
fact that she was legally his equal did not protect 
her from being actually at his mercy. Neverthe- 
less, it was well to have these laws on the books, as 
the New Woman has learned. 

It is a generally credited idea that the Moham- 
medan religion reduced women to the level of an 
animal, denying her a place in Paradise except 
through her husband, and refusing her any re- 
ligious life. The story has been told more than 
once of the women who sat in a mosque listening 
to an 7mam expound the Koran, and as he told of 
their worthlessness, swaying to and fro and beating 
their breasts as they exclaimed, “‘ Oh, yes, we have 
no souls, we have no souls.” 

But a study of the Koran reveals the untruth of 
this belief. The Prophet more than once expressly 
offered Paradise to faithful women. To one of his 


150 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


women who was mourning the death of a child he 
said: ‘“‘To those who have believed, whose off- 
spring have followed them in the faith, will we 
again in Paradise unite their offspring.” And ona 
less personal occasion he said: 

“ Truly, the men who resign themselves to God, 
and the women who resign themselves, and the be- 
lieving men and the believing women, and the 
devout men and the devout women, and the men 
of truth and the women of truth, and the patient 
men and the patient women, and the humble men 
and the humble women, and the men who give alms 
and the women who give alms, and the men who 
fast and the women who fast, and the chaste men 
and the chaste women, and the men and the women 
who remember God, for these hath Allah prepared 
forgiveness and a rich recompense.” 

Turkish women are undeniably attractive. They 
have low warbling voices, charmingly gracious 
manners, pretty little hands with henna-ed nails, 
and very often lovely faces. They are rather small 
as a rule, and not so anxious to be fat as they used 
to be, with small feet but rather shapeless owing to 
sloppy footgear. Their eyes are generally dark 
and often very languorous. They are not so dark 
as the Persians and Armenians; they have pale 
rather than swarthy skins, with brown or hazel or 
black eyes and generally brown or black hair. As 
men have intermarried so much with Circassians, 
the children occasionally inherit chestnut or red- 


THE TURKISH GIRLS WHO DARED 151 


dish hair and fair complexions. The prettiest bride 
I ever saw was one of our students whose father 
was a Turk and her mother a Circassian. She had 
softly waving light red hair, blush roses in her 
cheeks, gentle brown eyes, and most engaging dim- 
ples. As she sat in her bridal array, a beautiful 
embroidered white gown, a filmy veil falling around 
her form, the conventional diamond crown on her 
brow, with silver tinsel framing her delicate cheeks 
and falling over her dress, her eyes modestly cast 
down, she was a bride to inspire any lover to 
poetry. 

A Turkish wife and mother was always loving 
and devoted, although twenty years ago she was 
seldom intelligently so. She had been sharply 
trained to modesty, but not at all to self-control, 
and would at this time cry aloud or scream and let 
herself go on in a way that shocked our Western 
ideas. She was naturally and intensely loyal, and 
this quality has developed into patriotism. She has 
a great deal of natural pride, and develops dignity 
and grace when trained. In the Revolution of 
1908, the women showed heroism, self-sacrifice, 
love of liberty and of humanity, intelligence in 
service, and the lofty quality of devotion to an 
abstract cause. 

The Oriental woman has been the accepted type 
of the purely feminine woman whose joy is to 
please her lord, whose pride is to bear a son, and 
whose duty to herself is to preserve her beauty. 


152 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


To such women, life is reduced to the simplest 
terms and the world beyond the harem walls does 
not exist. The very large majority of Turkish 
women in 1900 could neither read nor write their 
difficult language, but this was not for lack of 
brain power. These girls, when they were ambi- 
tious enough to get into the American schools, 
showed excellent intelligence. As students, they 
compared very favourably with the other Oriental 
students of the college. They seldom like mathe- 
matics, but have a strong feeling for the cultural 
studies. The Turkish girls learn English rapidly, 
speaking it with singularly little accent and acquir- 
ing its idioms easily, but writing with a very loose 
construction because of their own loosely con- 
structed language. The change that Western 
education makes in these girls, from being uncon- 
trolled and empty-minded to becoming intelligent, 
poised and efficient, is simply amazing. 


XIT 


HOW THE REVOLUTION OF 1908 OPENED 
THE DOOR TO TURKISH WOMEN 


HE year 1908-9 was a very exciting one for 
the American College for Girls. In the 
summer vacation the foreign residents of 

Turkey were electrified by the rapid and successful 
overthrow of the old tyranny and the setting up of 
a constitution. The country that had seemed para- 
lysed burst forth into joyous activity. The dead 
newspapers became alive and interesting, the peo- 
ple talked freely on boats and trains. When we 
returned from our vacations, the man who met us 
at the boat said solemnly, “‘ Yenz dunyea geldi,’— 
‘“‘ A new world has come.” 

The college felt the effect at once. All sorts of 
bans and censorships were removed; the whole 
atmosphere became bright and hopeful, and Turk- 
ish girls were allowed to come into the school. The 
‘Honeymoon period,” as it has been called, filled 
the Americans with joy and hope, and we felt that 
liberty had really come to Turkey. 

Under the cautious yet progressive administra- 
tion of Acting-President Vivian, the college passed 
through exciting months. President Patrick, en- 


153 


154 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


gaged in the difficult task of raising money in 
America, used every bit of material that could be 
sent her, to show the opportunity that was opening 
up to Turkish women. The Young Turks were 
very courteous to the college, removing old restric- 
tions and allowing supplies to pass easily through 
the customs. 

There was also an influx of Turkish students, a 
little hesitant at first and then a rush. Girls would 
come up the hill accompanied by mothers and men 
servants carrying bedding and clothes, not having 
announced their coming nor engaged rooms. And 
when they found that they could not get in, their 
disappointment was pitiful. 

“Oh, teacher, just let me get in,” they would 
say. ‘One more will not make any difference; 
my bed is so little. Please, teacher. Please.” 
And then would turn away in grief and go weeping 
down the hill. 

This pressure on inadequate accommodations 
continued for several years, to the distress of the 
faculty. In 1910, Dr. Patrick wrote: 


“I have had another painful experience this 
morning, refusing a little Turkish girl, with such a 
nice looking mother, who lives in the interior and 
expects to return thither next summer, and is so 
anxious to put her child here for the few months 
when she may be near her to get the child accus- 
tomed to the school before next year. The child 
was such a nice child, too, and she turned pale and 


THE REVOLUTION OF 1908 155 


red at the thought of not being received. The 
mother said so pitifully, ‘ You know it is only lately 
that we have been allowed to send our children to 
school.’ This is only one of many instances. It is 
really harder than I can bear to turn these people 
away. They are ready to pay any price.” 


That winter Acting-President Vivian opened 
classes for Turkish women, a sort of college exten- 
sion, classes in English and lectures on all sorts of 
subjects. The entire faculty took turns lecturing 
to them, generally with an interpreter. They were 
given simple talks on cooking, on the care of 
babies, on Turkish history, on how to form clubs, 
etcetera, and as much English as they would study. 
The women were generally mothers who had felt 
starved until this opportunity was opened up 
to them. 

Some very interesting echoes of the Revolution 
as the students saw or felt it are recorded in class 
compositions written at the time. A few of them 
will show something of the reaction of the Revolu-: 
tion on the girls. The first composition was writ- 
ten by Victoria Kyrias, a niece of Sevasti and 
Parashkevi Kyrias. It was called 


THE CELEBRATING OF THE CONSTITUTION IN 
MONASTIR 
“The 24th of July will be a most remarkable 
day in the history of the world. On this day all 
Monastir was in an excited condition. All thought 


156 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


that something fearful would take place. It was 
about ten o’clock in the morning when all the lead- 
ers of the Young Turks, with nine thousand or 
more soldiers, entered the city. It was really a 
beautiful sight to look at, all the faces of those ill- 
treated soldiers, now so happy that they will also 
have their rights. They were accompanied by the 
military band, which was playing all the time. The © 
Greeks and Bulgarians were with them, everyone 
with flags. All these thousands of people were 
calling at the top of their voices, ‘ Let the nation 
live! ’ and clapping their hands as much as they 
could. They went all together to. the soldiers’ 
practising grounds. There one of the Turkish 
committee read the ‘ Firman.’ Then twenty-one 
cannons were fired in honour of the Constitution. 
In the afternoon all the prisoners were set free. 
No one could believe the glad message. You could 
see all the prisoners walking through the streets 
with their different costumes and many of them 
with long hair and beards. What happy faces some 
of them had, having thought that perhaps after 
some days and weeks they would be hung, and now 
they were free. 


“The next day, in the morning, the Bulgarians 
and Greeks went to the military school and to the 
barracks to congratulate the new officers. They 
had many flags of different colours. On some was 
written, ‘ Long live liberty,’ ‘ Long live the Consti- 
tution,’ and on some were these words, ‘ Liberty, 
Equality, Fraternity, Justice.’ After two days 
those that had gone out into the mountains to fight 


THE REVOLUTION OF 1908 157 


for their nation’s rights, now began to come into 
the city. The first comers were four leaders with 
their companions. Among those four were two 
Albanian captains. All four were on horseback 
and wore a crown made of flowers. ‘The streets 
were full of people, all shouting from joy and 
throwing them flowers. ‘The flowers looked so 
beautiful, especially on mighty Cherchis Bey with 
his long curly hair and beard. Cherchis Bey was 
the first Albanian that went out into the mountains 
to fight bravely for his poor, dear Albania. He was 
received with great honour by all the Albanians in 
Monastir. After some days all the Bulgarian and 
Greek bands came, who were received with great 
honour by everybody.” 


The second was written by an Armenian Sopho- 
more named Gadarineh Harounian: 


“The twenty-fourth of July is written in golden 
letters in all the memories of the Ottomans. This 
is the date of our coming out of our prisons. I 
say ‘ prison ’ because in reality we were imprisoned 
in the city of Constantinople. We could not take a 
step out of the country. Now the doors of our 
prison are wide open, with the hope never to shut 
again. I wonder if many of us knew anything 
about freedom. Even if we knew, we feared to 
mention it, to think of it. Two years ago, when I 
was a preparatory student, we had to learn by 
heart Byron’s beautiful poem of ‘ Love of Coun- 
try.’ In class each student recited in turn. I 


158 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


prayed so fervently that my turn might pass over, 
because I was ashamed to recite it. How could I 
recite it? It was all against me. It did not apply 
to one who had no country to love. My native 
country is Constantinople, but they have not given 
me the right to love it. While now I have one, 
Byron’s Love of Country is dearer to me. I can 
recite it with my full voice, it sounds so sweet.” 


After graduation, Gadarineh came to the United 
States and took a master’s degree at Teacher’s 
College, and later a diploma at the Sorbonne, in 
Paris. Since that time she has been a successful 
teacher of French in this country. We hope that 
she feels that it is her own. 

The third composition was written by Nouvart 
Tchiblakian, an Armenian Junior: 


THE CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT 


“The 24th of July in the year of 1908 will 
always be printed on my mind as the beginning of 
a new and happy epoch. It is impossible to de- 
scribe the happiness and joy on all the faces of 
those who had some trouble under the cruel abso- 
lute monarchy. Innocent persons had been obliged 
to go to prison or to the door of the government to 
satisfy the demands of the policemen who caught 
them. Those poor men, according to the unlawful 
custom, paid some money and so got rid of their 
troubles. Almost none of us could say, ‘ I am free 
from trouble,’ for he could not live quiet and bring 


THE REVOLUTION OF 1908 159 


his labour home with a quiet mind. Always some 
spies were pursuing him to catch some of his words. 
Many are the ways in which we poor people suf- 
fered under the last régime. So many in prison 
were tortured to give out some secret belonging to 
one’s self or to betray one’s friends. For this pur- 
pose, for the sake of saving their friends, many 
have killed themselves (of which my cousin is the 
great and familiar example), being unable to resist 
their cruelties. It is to those martyrs that we owe 
our freedom; it is with the blood of those brave 
soldiers of revolution that we bought our freedom. 
When I think of the Constitution I feel a kind of 
broken-heartedness in the memory of those patriots 
who died for us, and I wish they were alive to share 
this happiness with us. Let their memories be 
always blessed! 


“Now, by means of the Constitution, our par- 
ents are able to engage more in their home work, 
to think about the instruction of their children. 
Our fathers will go to their business with a quiet 
mind. The people will be able to travel freely and 
open new places of business. I cannot mention all 
the advantages which the Constitution offers to us, 
but we must all know how to make use of them and 
work so that we can be useful in the task of help- 
ing the affairs of the government. We must all 
live friendly always minding the rights of others 
and ours, and so be one united nation under the 
Turkish banner. This is our sole and great desire, 
and let us all cry unanimously, ‘ Long live Consti- 
tution and Revolution! ’” 


1460 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


Nasly Halid was a Turkish girl who had been 
very persistent in eluding the spies and studying 
in the college. But the government had withdrawn 
her in the spring of 1908. She had sent for her 
examinations and taken them at home, hoping that 
she could return in the autumn. The Revolution 
made this possible, so that she took her degree in 
1910. Nasly wrote the following on 


WOMEN AND THE TURKISH CONSTITUTION 


“The Turkish Constitution has brought about 
a great many changes, one being on the situation 
of women. Up to now no education was considered 
necessary for woman, and her greatest work in life 
was to be a housewife; no other was found fit for 
her except to be a nurse. Women were considered 
to be much lower than men in everything. They 
were supposed to stay at home deprived of every 
advantage in life, while their fathers, brothers, 
husband enjoyed themselves in every way. They 
were excused for ignorance when there were no 
schools to develop their minds. Some of them 
worked very hard to bring about this beneficent 
change. Women played a great part in the Revo- 
lution; they were most active members of the Com- 
mittee, for they were the ones who carried the 
news and letters when it was impossible for men to 
do so. Many of them left their homes, families 
and children, and in spite of drawbacks arising 
from their sex, threw their lives into great danger. 
Some of them went to Paris to work there with the 


THE REVOLUTION OF 1908 161 


Young Turks, and wrote to the French, pleading 
the cause of women in Turkey. This was the past. 
How does it compare with the present? The news- 
papers are printing article after article saying that 
women must work and help men. I hope it is not 
only in the way recognised in the past that we are 
expected to work and help the men. Then the 
question arises, Are we prepared for any other 
work than that? No. How can we, since we are 
not educated? Then the thing we need most is 
education and good schools. We, as well as the 
men, have suffered and we must also have our 
freedom.” 


Stefka Obreshkova, who was called the first 
grandchild of the college, because her mother had 
been one of the early Bulgarian graduates, wrote 
the following: 


“The granting of the Constitution to Turkey 
has improved the conditions of the Turkish women, 
who until now were put on a very low footing in the 
state. They were not allowed to visit any concerts 
or public places, or to undertake any voyages in 
foreign lands. What is more, they were forbidden 
to enter any European schools. In short, they 
were not allowed to go anywhere they could gain 
anything for the cultivation of their minds to make 
them better educated women and mothers. But in 
some of the young Turkish girls’ hearts the desire 
for learning new things ran high. They could no 
longer stay shut up at home from all the outside 


162 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


world; their blood was boiling for an education 
different from the one they could receive at home. 
They could not see young European girls of their 
age going to schools and studying with pleasure 
without envying them. There were some whose 
parents saw the necessity of sending their daugh- 
ters to foreign schools, and so they did send them. 
But soon laws after laws were issued forbidding 
any Turkish girl from entering any European 
school. They probably feared that if the girls 
should go to such schools or colleges and see what 
kind of life the Europeans were leading, and what 
great liberty their women had, they would no 
longer want to lead the life they have until now. 
But this is all past, and let us look forward with 
new hopes. The Constitution has broken the 
chains that fastened the women; it has given them 
privileges which were long ago obtained by all the 
European women. They are allowed to go to any 
school they please, or visit certain concerts and 
public places. 

“Tt is proposed to found Turkish schools side 
by side with the Christian schools. The govern- 
ment will not only enforce the teaching of Turkish 
in Christian schools, but will probably also succeed 
in attracting Christians to Turkish schools. The 
political news of this country is discussed every- 
where and by everybody. Even the ignorant 
caikgees (boatmen) of this city speak on this mat- 
ter and are deeply interested in all the daily news. 
All and everyone hopes and likes to hope that the 
new Constitution granted will not be taken from 


THE REVOLUTION OF 1908 163 


the happy Young Turks, as it was taken when first 
given in the year 1878.” 


The Revolution opened a new life to Halideh 
Hanum. After finishing her college course with 
distinction, she had married and become the 
mother of two boys. For a few years she wrote a 
good deal, essays and sketches for the most part, 
but could not get them published, as all original 
writing was discouraged by the government. With 
July, 1908, came her opportunity. She was lifted 
to the seventh heaven of joy by the Revolution, 
and seizing her pen she wrote a poetical outburst 
entitled Address of Othman to the Third Army 
Corps, in which Othman, the founder of the Otto- 
man Empire, is represented as glorying in the deeds 
of the army corps at Salonika that had accom- 
plished the bloodless revolution. ‘This article, so 
Oriental in its imagery and spirit that it is hardly 
translatable, brought her immediate fame. The 
editors of a newspaper, Tanin or Echo, destined to 
play a large part in Turkish politics, immediately 
engaged Halideh Hanum as a contributing editor, 
and she wrote for it regularly. She wrote careful, 
intelligent articles on such themes as woman’s edu- 
cation and curricula for new schools; she wrote 
burning essays on the griefs of the Cretan Moslems 
and the massacres of the Armenians near Adana; 
she wrote historical sketches of women who have 
swayed Turkish rule and rulers; and the people 


164 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


read all she wrote and asked for more. Her old 
manuscripts were gathered into volumes, and she 
was asked to contribute to seven papers and maga- 
zines, to teach a new school, to organise a woman’s 
club, to be honourary member of men’s clubs. The 
soldiery sent her word that they adored her. 
There was not a busier nor happier woman in the 
world than Halideh Hanum from July, 1908, to 
April, 1909, and few women have been more influ- 
ential. She consciously used all that she had got 
from her American education to give to her own 
people. Throughout this period she kept moderate, 
sane, and unselfish, never leaving off her veil nor 
behaving other than as became a Turkish lady. 

Asked to state the case of Turkish women for an 
English newspaper, she wrote The Future of Turk- 
ish Women. 


‘“‘ During the old régime one hardly saw anything 
in the papers concerning Turkish women. Today, 
the greater part of the third month of our revolu- 
tion, the papers are occupied by discussions, with 
much heat in them, about our sex. Before the 
Constitution, women were of no importance; they 
were a neglected quantity, and, like other neglected 
elements, were supposed to have no right to stand 
up for themselves. Besides, it was generally sup- 
posed that there were few or no women who were 
able to speak for themselves, but today the con- 
trary is proved. 

‘““ Among the influences that were working during 


THE REVOLUTION OF 1908 165 


the last thirty years for liberty, the rdle of the 
Turkish women was considerable, although indi- 
rect. The influence which brought about our revo- 
lution was a revolt against the misdoings of the 
government, and some of these specially appealed 
to women. Barbarous and secret cruelties crushed 
the life and spilled the best blood of Turkey’s chil- 
dren. Constantinople was the most stricken city 
in the empire. Eighty thousand were sent away 
from its gates into exile, misery, chains, and tor- 
ture; some to death or even worse. These victims 
were mostly students, youths, anybody who had an 
independent spirit or talents, or who was known 
even to read a page of a foreign newspaper, or was 
supposed to have done so. There were also many, 
mostly from the middle class, the sturdy, the hon- 
est, the patient middle class of Turks. Now the 
mental attitude of the mothers and wives of these 
victims towards the old régime is easy to see. The 
majority of Turkish women in Constantinople, 
even among those who hardly understand the 
meaning of liberty, are for the Constitution, which 
assures the lives of their children and husbands, 
which lifts the horrible uncertainty and fear of 
having an unknown fate hanging over the heads of 
their beloved. 

“These women, who see in the Constitution both 
a remedy and a vengeance for their blood wrongs, 
will stand by it, will teach their children the love of 
liberty, as they have been doing for years, and in 
dying they will leave their hatred of tyranny as a 
blood inheritance to their sons and daughters. 


166 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


“The generation of women who have already 
been the means of propagating large and liberal 
ideas are an educated minority. They are the 
fortunate few who were not morally maimed by 
some of the foolish and unworthy creatures who 
call themselves governesses. They are women who 
had by chance fallen into good and honest hands, 
or had been taught by their fathers or husbands. 
Naturally this minority understood that the salva- 
tion of a nation lies in the proper education of 
high-minded and patriotic women. They under- 
stood that the reason why Anglo-Saxons occupy so 
lofty a moral position in the world’s civilisation is 
due to their sacred ideas of womanhood and home. 
These women have worked silently, but knowingly, 
bringing up liberal-minded sons and _ patriotic 
daughters, building honest hearths where real com- 
radeship dwells, where a man is encouraged to go 
on in serving his country, although that service 
meant sometimes worse than death. 

“Now as to what they are doing or will likely 
do in future, I will add a few words. At present a 
warm discussion is going on in the Turkish papers 
on the Turkish woman’s position. Some women 
began to demand, after the revolution, their right 
to learn and work with their companions in life. 
There was in this nothing that ought to have hurt 
or awakened religious prejudice. But a French 
article appeared, signed by a Turkish woman’s 
name, Ferideh, but in reality written by a Jewess, 
and this caused a storm. The writer declared that 
she would unveil. This caused deep indignation in 


THE REVOLUTION OF 1908 167 


the majority of the Turks. As a fact, no reason- 
able Turkish woman asks to unveil. All that they 
ask for is a liberal education and a right to accom- 
pany their husbands and to become fit educators of 
the future generation. What they can do in future 
will be decided by the kind of instruction they 
will get. 

“IT am very glad to be able to address English- 
speaking women on behalf of all Turkish women. 
We are doing our best to place English influence 
and the English language foremost in our future 
schools for girls. 

“ The actual cry of the Turkish woman to moré ~~ 
civilised womanhood, specially to England and 
America, is this: You go and teach the savage, you 
descend into slums. Come to this land, where the 
most terrible want, the want of knowledge, exists. 
Come and help us to disperse the dark clouds of 
ignorance. We are working ever so hard to get 
away from the slavery of ignorance. The opening 
of schools by the English everywhere in Turkey 
would be welcomed by Turkish mothers. Simple, 
healthy, human teaching, such as Anglo-Saxons are 
able to give, is what we want. Give us living ex- 
amples of your great serious women. But let the 
conditions be such that poorer classes may have it 
within their power to send their children to school. 
For we ask not for luxury or grand institutions 
where comfort is found, but for simple teaching. 
More than for bread and water, more than any 
other want, we cry for knowledge and healthy 
Anglo-Saxon influence.” 


XIII 


THE COUNTER-REVOLUTION 


during that happy time between the granting 
of the Constitution and the elections in the 
late autumn. But the months that followed the 
opening of Parliament and included the counter- 
revolution were filled with excitement and danger. 
Never was such a joyous day as that of the 
opening of the first Turkish parliament on Decem- 
ber 17, 1909. The enthusiasm and happiness were 
extraordinary, only the beaten Sultan not sharing in 
it. The college history classes were brightened by 
descriptions of this day, of a visit to the baby par- 
liament, and of the many celebrations in the city. 
Everything seemed to be going smoothly, when, 
like a bolt from the blue, the coup d’état of April 
13 struck the city. From Scutari we could see the 
crowds collected in Stamboul near and on the War 
Building. The First Army Corps of Constanti- 
nople was up in arms, and it was evident that a 
carefully-planned uprising was calculated to re- 
place the Caliph-Sultan in his old autocratic 
position. 
There was some fighting in the streets, and the 
168 


fi was a wonderful experience to live in Turkey 


THE COUNTER-REVOLUTION 169 


college had its local excitement, for some of the 
teachers, listening from the flat roof, saw a mob 
surge up the hill and approach the college. They 
held their breath, fearing that it was the soldiery; 
but it turned out to be only a disorganised rabble, 
easily dispersed. 

As it was the close of the spring vacation, many 
of the faculty and students were away, and during 
the period of great stress and danger that followed, 
Acting-President Vivian, supported by but two of 
the American professors, Miss Prime and Miss 
Jenkins, had sole charge of a hundred or more 
students, a handful of badly scared servants and a 
few quiet teachers. Across the Bosphorus from 
all other Americans, they were left to take care of 
themselves, although the American ambassador 
later assured them that he “was thinking of 
them.” Too much credit cannot be given to Dr. 
Vivian for her devotion, calm and good judgment 
in this crisis. 

By Wednesday night it was plain that the 
Young Turks were down and the Sultan on top. 
All of our Young Turk friends were in hiding and 
no one dared inquire their fate for fear of com- 
promising them. The spies were everywhere 
again, and the despair and fear of the old régime 
settled down on the city. At the same time, the 
Sultan, to discredit the Young Turks, ordered 
massacres all over the empire. Only a few of 
these massacres were carried out. 


170 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


On Thursday, Halideh Hanum came to us as a 
refugee with her two little boys and her father. 
She had taken her children and fled from Stam- 
boul on Tuesday, when there was fighting in the 
streets, and she heard people calling out the death 
of her friends and the destruction of the news- 
paper office which contained all her manuscript 
about to be published. She went to her father in 
Scutari, but the mutinous soldiers were there in 
their rounds of the city with a list of names of 
people whom they conceived to be too progressive 
and Western for their country’s good, and were 
killing them. They killed two hundred of the best 
trained army officers, and then began to pick off 
civilians. On the latter list were four women, of 
whom Halideh Hanum was one. All of our Turk- 
ish friends were in hiding; one was said to have 
spent two nights in a well, and another to have 
escaped to a foreign gunboat. Halideh had hardly 
reached her father’s house when soldiers appeared 
inquiring for her, and she fled to a neighbouring 
monastery of dervishes, where she stayed in 
anguish for two days. At the end of that time 
she heard a rumour of an intent to burn the 
monastery, and feeling that she was imperilling 
the kind dervishes, she fled to us. We kept her 
secretly for some days. We made plans for her 
escape from the country, but before we had exe- 
cuted them, the whole atmosphere of the city 
changed, and her husband openly took her to 


THE COUNTER-REVOLUTION 171 


Egypt, on a steamer filled with people glad to get 
out of the country. 

What had changed the atmosphere of the city 
was the arrival in the outskirts of Constantinople 
of the famous Salonica army, headed by Mahmoud 
Shevket Pasha. The next excitement at the col- 
lege was a battle around Yildiz, the palace of the 
Sultan. 

At five o’clock on Saturday morning we were 
awakened by the sound of firing from a distance. 
In five minutes a half-dressed group of teachers 
was assembled on the roof listening to the unmis- 
takable roar of battle. As smokeless powder was 
used, except in the cannon, wé could not at first 
locate the fight, but presently saw great puffs of 
smoke preceding the boom of the cannon near the 
military school across the Straits. Then we ob- 
tained a telescope and with that could see groups 
of soldiers moving, and could watch the grounds 
of Yildiz very well. Scutari itself was a sight, for 
by shortly after five o’clock, all the male popula- 
tion, mostly Armenians, was on the hillsides, some 
running up and down and some standing still, 
while the women rushed to the churches, and our 
day-scholars and their families flocked into our 
grounds. We listened to the battle for hours until 
the firing ceased; then we tried to learn what had 
happened. But there, within three miles of the 
battle, in plain sight of the city, we were entirely 
cut off from the world for two days. We had 


172 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


neither letter, telegram nor visitor during that 
time and knew not how the battle had turned. No 
boat was on the Bosphorus, and we were more cut 
off than even a medieval castle behind its moat and 
drawbridge. 

We were a colony of women with four stout 
armed Croats to fight for us, a horde of frightened 
servants, and surrounded by a _ panic-stricken 
neighbourhood who depended on our flag to save 
them, and sent deputations to ask if they might 
take refuge in the college grounds. Sunday after- 
noon we heard sharp but brief firing on our own 
shore, which turned out to be the taking of the 
Selimieh barracks by the constitutional troops; 
and all day after that, troops were landed and 
pushed up our hill, to the intense excitement of the 
populace. It was an anxious time, but teachers 
and students went calmly about their lessons, and 
showed no fear. Classes went on as usual. When 
news reached us, this is what we learned: 

General Shevket Pasha had obtained informa- 
tion that Abdul Hamid, anxious to discredit com- 
pletely the Young Turk party in the eyes of 
Europe, had, as a Parthian shot, ordered a general 
massacre of foreigners and Christians to take place 
Saturday morning. We heard later, also, that it 
was to have begun in Scutari, in which case we and 
the natives who had rushed to our protection would 
have doubtless been the first victims. The army 
lost not a minute in occupying the city, reaching 


THE COUNTER-REVOLUTION 173 


there some two hours before the hour set for the 
Turkish “ Saint Bartholomews.” 

The Young Turk government was re-established ; 
the city was put under martial law, and order was 
rapidly restored. But one question was on every- 
one’s lip; what was to be done with the Sultan? 
Would he be killed? Dare the Young Turks pro- 
voke Moslem fanaticism by killing the Caliph? 
Would he again be put on his too often broken 
oath, or had this attempt of his been a lesson to 
those who had hitherto trusted him? Would he 
be deposed? If so, when and how? A breath 
would go over the city,—‘‘ Something will happen 
this afternoon—tomorrow,” and everyone would 
look everyone else eagerly in the face. But the 
Committee kept its counsel. 

On the afternoon of April 27, every ear was 
caught by the sound of a gun fired from Tophaneh; 
the second boom took us to the roof again; three! 
four! five! six! seven! ‘These might indicate a fire, 
for aS many. as seven guns were fired for a confla- 
gration; no, eight sounded; still, we were not sure 
until after twenty-one had been fired. With 
twenty-two a shout went up. Classes were dis- 
missed, and the girls invited to the roof. The 
booming continued, thirty, forty, fifty; other guns 
began, a sharp, spattering fire all over the city. 
Some among us grew nervous,—was it another 
battle? I felt sure it was only a demonstration of 
joy. We watched intently. There, look on the 


174 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


water! bullets are striking the calm surface; it is 
not a fight, it is joy! We got out our big flag, and 
held it in readiness. Sixty, seventy, eighty boomed. 
A ship in the harbour suddenly dressed, and up 
flew our flag to salute the joyful day. One hun- 
dred, one hundred and one! Abdul Hamid was 
deposed. 

Ten minutes later one of our youngest Turkish 
girls asked another, ‘‘ Where do you suppose 
Hamid Effendi is now? ” Hamid Effendi; but ten 
minutes ago, Emperor of the Great Ottoman Em- 
pire, Caliph of the Faithful, Shadow of God on 
Earth was now become Hamid Effendi. How 
are the mighty fallen. The response of the 
schoolgirl shows the feeling that lay in people’s 
minds despite the servile respect always shown 
to the Sultan. ‘“‘ Under the mud,” she replied 
contemptuously. 

“The king is dead, long live the king! ” 
Mehemet V., for thirty-three years practically a 
prisoner within one of his brother’s palaces, now 
exchanged places with Abdul Hamid II., and at 
the age of sixty ascended his brother’s throne. 
His accession and the brilliant procession after the 
girding on of the sword of Othman ends this part 
of our story. 


XIV 
PROGRESS IN THE COLLEGE 


HEN Dr, Patrick came back to Constanti- 
nople, her two years’ work in America 
being rewarded by large gifts of money 

for the new college, she found a great and happy 
change in conditions. 

The Young Turk government was friendly to 
American institutions, and anxious to learn from 
them how to build up its own schools. In the 
President’s Report for 1909-10, Dr. Patrick thus 
describes the change: 


“The most serious problems which the govern- 
ment must meet arise from the sudden emancipa- 
tion of the people who have in the past been denied 
education, and from race prejudice. In both these 
directions, the cosmopolitan colleges established in 
Turkey by American philanthropy have a strong 
influence. The effect of the new conditions is 
already felt in the progress of education of women, 
and for the first time in its history Constantinople 
College was able openly to take its place in the 
educational life of the city. 

“Under the old régime the visit of a Moham- 
medan woman to the college might subject her to 


175 


176 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


serious difficulty from espionage, but from the be- 
ginning of the present year our parlours have been 
constantly filled with the veiled ladies of the ruling 
race. They come to bring their daughters, to visit 
the college, or to themselves attend the lectures. 
The fathers, too, have not been behind in their 
interest in the education of their daughters, and 
have frequently expressed the opinion that the 
hope of the nation lies in the education of their 
women. The new freedom was strikingly shown 
early in the year by an application from the De- 
partment of Public Instruction, for five students, 
for whose education in our college the Turkish 
government had appropriated funds. MHalideh 
Hanum, the distinguished Turkish graduate of this 
college, was asked by the government to select the 
girls, and she did so with very careful considera- 
tion to a number of candidates. The girls were all 
from the Dar-ul-Malumat, the highest school in 
Constantinople for Turkish girls. These girls, on 
entering our college, were officially committed to us 
by the representative of the Department of Pub- 
lic Instruction. ‘We commit them to you,’ he 
said; ‘their religion, their intellectual training, 
their morals and their health.’ The girls were to 
remain until they graduated, and their mothers 
were required to sign papers to which official seals 
were affixed, promising that after their daughters 
were graduated from our college, they should teach 
five years in the Turkish government schools.” 


The principal problem that confronted the col- 


PROGRESS IN THE COLLEGE 177 


lege at the beginning of this year was the lack of 
space. Nearly every bed in the dormitories had to 
be engaged by paying a deposit in advance, and 
with the new enthusiasm for education, the Presi- 
dent was besieged with applications and had to 
refuse many the eagerly-sought admission. A few 
more girls were admitted by opening a small addi- 
tional dormitory, but this resulted in crowding 
more than ever the class and other public rooms. 
The greatest influx of students was naturally into 
the Preparatory School, as the Turkish applicants 
were not prepared for college work, and it so hap- 
pened that the quarters of the Preparatory School 
were the worst buildings on the campus. So it was 
decided by the trustees to rent a building called 
Musurus Palace, adjoining the site to which the 
college was soon to remove, on the waterfront, and 
to house the Preparatory School there. Dr. Wil- 
liam S. Murray was appointed director of the 
school with his wife as superintendent of domestic 
affairs. This building was not well suited for a 
school, but Dr. and Mrs. Murray, by dint of 
ability and patient, skilful management, made it 
serve for fourteen years while waiting for a better 
school-home. 

Concerning the new buildings, President Patrick 
writes: ‘‘ The picturesque setting of the new ar- 
rangements for the preparatory department will 
make it very attractive, with the Bosphorus before 
the entrance, and the beautiful grounds of the new 


178 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


site stretching up behind to the heights. New stu- 
dents will arrive in caiques and barkas as well as 
in carriages; and the parents all over the city, who 
have in their minds dismal memories of the dust 
and mud of Scutari are already beginning to say,— 
‘How easy and convenient that will be.’ Mean- 
while, the college itself will remain in Scutari until 
the new buildings are erected.” 

The preparatory department was moved into the 
Musurus Palace in the spring of 1910, and in the 
following June the commencement exercises of the 
college were held in the large audience-rooms and 
the adjoining balcony overlooking the Bosphorus. 
Sixteen girls formed the largest class ever gradu- 
ated from the college, and the occasion was one of 
especial hope, as it pointed to the ultimate removal 
of the whole college to the European shore of the 
Bosphorus. 

A special Iradé from the Turkish government 
was required in order to establish the preparatory 
department at Arnautkeuy and to erect college 
buildings on the new site. This was promulgated 
on November 16th, 1910. 

The progress of the college since the new charter 
was granted, in 1908, was very decided. Generous 
friends rendered possible the beginning of new 
buildings on the European site. Miss Helen Miller 
Gould, Mrs. Russell Sage, Mr. John D. Rockefel- 
ler, Mrs. Henry Woods, Miss Olivia Stokes, Miss 
Grace Dodge, Hon. Charles R. Crane and Mrs. 


PROGRESS IN THE COLLEGE 179 


Pauline Durant all contributed with generosity to 
the needs of the college. In America, the trustees 
appointed a committee on buildings and grounds, 
who went ahead, engaging a firm of Boston archi- 
tects, Shepley and Rutan, now Coolidge and Shat- 
tuck, a prominent firm of architects for colleges and 
universities in the United States, to plan a complete 
set of buildings as an architectural whole. The 
work was done largely by Oriental workers under 
Occidental supervision and reflected the difficulties 
that everywhere beset this cosmopolitan college. 
All machinery, from the huge stone-crusher and the 
steam drill used for stone-blasting, down to the 
wheelbarrows, together with materials for construc- 
tion, excepting the stone found on the premises, 
had to be transported to Constantinople, largely 
from America, six thousand miles away, as were the 
materials for equipment, including plumbing and 
electric fixtures, for the receiving of which a pier 
had to be erected at the Bosphorus entrance to 
the property. 

The centre of the group of seven buildings is 
Gould Hall, the gift of Helen Miller Gould, (now 
Mrs. Finley Shepherd). This is the Administra- 
tion Building, and the first to be erected. The lay- 
ing of the cornerstone of this building took place 
on November 9, 1911, and was made the occasion 
of a service in which the predominant note was 
gratitude for the spiritual vision of the donor, and 
appreciation of the splendid possibilities of the 


180 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


college. Short speeches were made by representa- 
tives of the Greek Patriarchate, the Armenian 
Patriarchate, the Bulgarian Exarchate and the Im- 
perial Ottoman Department of Public Instruction. 
The last-named speaker was Halil Bey, whose 
words show how friendly was the new Turkish 
government to this American college. The text of 
his speech was as follows: 


“The greatest social question of today is in 
regard to the intellectual and moral progress of 
women. There is no need to say that the source of 
all progress is education. The American College 
for Girls has been one of the greatest centres of 
education and light for women in this land. It 
owes its wonderful progress and high standard to 
great courage and ability of its president, Dr. Pat- 
rick. With pride I have watched this institution 
rise from year to year, and I think it my duty on 
this occasion to express the thanks of the Minister 
of Public Instruction to the college and its faculty 
for their great and enlightened efforts.” 


With this building three others were also con- 
structed, making one wing and the centre of the 
proposed seven. A power-house was also put up 
to supply light, heat and water power for all the 
buildings, this last being the gift of John D. 
Rockefeller. 

At the annual meeting of the trustees held in 
Boston, early in December, Miss Grace Hoadley 


PROGRESS IN THE COLLEGE 181 


Dodge accepted the appointment of president of 
the corporation, a position which she had been 
virtually holding since the death of Borden Parker 
Bowne, who succeeded Dr. Cuthbert Hall. At this 
meeting, also, it was voted to use commonly the 
title ‘‘ Constantinople College,” leaving the more 
cumbrous title, “‘ The American College for Girls 
at Constantinople, Turkey,” for legal use only. 
The inconvenience of this long name was seen 
when an American teacher attempted to introduce 
the college yell to Turkey. An attempt was made 
to teach the girls the following: “ Wah hoo wah; 
Zip boom bah, A. C. G. C.; Rah, rah, rah.” 

But the students did not take very kindly to the 
yell, it was not very Oriental; they preferred three 
cheers. So the yell died. Another inconvenience 
in the name of the college was that it, or its natural 
shortened form of the American college, was not 
distinctive, as Robert College was also an Ameri- 
can college. Many a sad disappointment came to 
members of this faculty when American visitors 
who were expected failed to appear, and it was 
learned later that when they had asked guides to 
take them to the “ American” college, they were 
taken to Robert College. 

The changes that were taking place in the edu- 
cation of the Near East were reflected in the Presi- 
dent’s Report for 1911-12, which ran as follows: 


“Conditions are steadily improving in the Near 


182 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


East, with the result of constantly bringing the 
subject of higher education of women into greater 
prominence. In this respect Constantinople Col- 
lege occupies a unique place in scope, organisation 
and aspirations. It seeks to share in the develop- 
ment of the nations of Eastern Europe and West- 
ern Asia, and desires to furnish the intellectual, 
moral and religious help that is most needed. To 
fulfil this aim, an education very varied in char- 
acter must be provided. The women of Greece 
and the Balkan Peninsula have now an opportunity 
of attending their own universities, which without 
exception are open to them; the University of 
Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, for example, con- 
tains several hundred women, although the nation 
itself numbers only five millions. The same is true 
of the University of Bucharest, the capital of Rou- 
mania, and there is, in fact, no university in the 
Near East, except in Turkey, where women are not 
to be found. If Constantinople College is to suc- 
ceed in helping to shape the moral and religious 
ideals of the young nations in this part of the 
world, it must provide advantages that are superior 
in comparison with the growing excellence of those 
offered by their own schools and universities. 

‘“ Conditions in the schools of the Turkish Em- 
pire are rapidly improving. A number of Turkish 
schools for girls have recently been organised 
which aim to prepare students to enter college, and 
while the majority of Mohammedan students are 
necessarily in the preparatory department, even 
during the present year there were eleven in the 


PROGRESS IN THE COLLEGE 183 


college classes, and the number of Turkish women 
in our higher classes will increase each year. Five 
Mohammedan girls were graduated from our pre- 
paratory department this year and will enter the 
college next September. When we remember how 
recent the time was when Turkish women were de- 
barred from all education, the progress made is 
truly remarkable. 

_ “The problems which arise in providing educa- 
tion for women of so many races in such differing 
degrees of development would seem at first thought 
to be very complicated, but they are really capable 
of being solved by simple and definite means: 

“First, the academic and cultural advantages 
offered in the regular college courses in English 
aS a common language must be superior to 
those that could be obtained elsewhere in the best 
institutions; 

‘Second, opportunities must also be provided 
for the students of each race to study their own 
vernacular language in its ancient and modern 
form and to acquaint themselves with the litera- 
ture and history of their own land; 

“Third, theoretical, practical and vocational 
training should be provided in methods of educa- 
tion, in domestic art and science, and in sanitation, 
hygiene and physical education. 

“The great problem, after all, is the problem of 
all education, which is to find the kind of training 
for individuals that will show the largest results in 
the progress of the communities to which they 
belong.” 


184 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


Dr. Patrick never lost sight of the fact that the 
original impulse of this institution was religious, 
and its most vital work was in its effect on the 
character of the students. The college had no 
church connected with it and made no effort to 
take Eastern Christians from their national 
churches; on the contrary, it gave every oppor- 
tunity to the girls to follow the feasts and fasts of 
‘their own churches and attend its services when 
practicable, but for many years it held daily chapel 
exercises, with Sunday services and Bible classes, 
and had a branch of the Young Women’s Chris- 
tian Association. To quote the President’s own 
words: 


“ The college desires to give to religious teaching 
and religious influence the place that belongs to 
them in shaping the highest issues of life... . 
The attempt is made in the religious services to 
bring personal knowledge of God into the lives of 
the students and to show the relation of religion to 
high and pure moral ideals, to home and national 
life and to the laws of the state. Religious ad- 
dresses are frequently given of a kind to promote 
thoughtful seeking on the part of the students for 
sincerity in religious worship, nearness to God, and 
uprightness in personal life.” 


f 
In 1911, the World’s Student Christian Fed- 
eration, meeting at Robert College, gave a great 
impulse to religious life. Three accounts of this 


PROGRESS IN THE COLLEGE 185 


conference, seeing it from different angles, were 
written at the time by Professor Eleanor I. Burns, 
President Patrick, and Miss Ruth Rouse, Secre- 
tary of the Federation. We cannot do better than 
give these first-hand stories. Miss Burns wrote 
as follows: 


“ For two or three weeks previous to the Coun- 
cil, the meetings of the Young Women’s Christian 
Association had been devoted to preparation for 
the Council of the Federation. The girls worked 
up most interesting meetings from reports of other 
conferences and from accounts of students of other 
lands. In this way they learned what the Feder- 
ation was and what students all over the world 


} 


were doing. Miss Rouse spent three weeks with ” 


us in the winter, and returned for a few days before 
the conference. She helped much in interesting the 
students in the conference and preparing them 
for it. 

“They were delighted at having the choice of 
four student delegates, and we rarely have had a 
more closely contested election. As usual, the girls 
chose well, and we had as delegates two seniors and 
two juniors, representing Armenians, Albanians, 
Bulgarians and Greeks. Of course there were 
many disappointed girls, but they were comforted 
when we secured visitors’ tickets for them. 

“The first morning fifteen arrived at Robert 
College, where the meetings were held, eager and 
enthusiastic in spite of wind and rain. Some of us 
who had never been at a great conference and so 


186 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


were ignorant of its power, thought, as the girls 
started forth, ‘ This is only the first day; novelty 
and curiosity takes them.’ And when they re- 
turned to Scutari late for dinner, some who had not 
been able to accompany them thought, ‘ Tomorrow 
there will not be fifteen.’ But as soon as the girls 
began to talk of that day’s experience we knew 
there would be fifteen, and more, if tickets could 
be secured. ‘There never was any falling-off, for 
day after day they made the long, tiresome jour- 
ney to Hissar. 

“‘ At the close of the conference, we invited all 
the delegates to the college and asked our girls to 
help entertain them. Never have I seen the girls 
happier than that afternoon as they talked to the 
students from China, Japan, India and Russia, and 
Continental Europe. This impulse from the con- 
ference was not short-lived, but showed continued 
and increasing enthusiasm. 

“ During the last two weeks, our four delegates 
have given their reports at the Association meet- 
ings—abstracts of addresses in clear, concise form, 
accounts of various movements carried on by the 
Federation, and of the many people they had met. 
They held the audience with them from the start 
and so developed the subject that when there was 
an opportunity for others to speak, many were 
eager to discuss the questions raised.” 


Forty women delegates were entertained at the 
college during the conference. President Patrick 
writes as follows: 


PROGRESS IN THE COLLEGE 187 


“The full significance of the conference was a 
spiritual one and characterises a new era in the 
Near East in the general public recognition of 
eternal spiritual realities. 

“Tt has often been remarked of the American 
College for Girls in this part of the world that one 
of its strongest methods of service is in developing 
the spirit of brotherly love among opposing nation- 
alities; this feature was very noticeable in the con- 
ference. Delegates from many nations, whose po- 
litical relations are not the most amicable, gained 
a friendly knowledge of each other which they will 
never forget, for the friendship established in a 
common religious devotion is of the strongest kind. 

“The language used in the conference sessions 
was largely English, although some sessions were 
held in French. The facility with which English 
was used by speakers of many different nationali- 
ties proved the rapid spread of the English lan- 
guage. The vitality of Christianity in the world at 
this time was also shown in the high, intellectual 
tone of the addresses made by distinguished speak- 
ers from some of the leading universities and col- 
leges in the world. The consequence of a pure 
Christianity is always an intellectual as well as a 
spiritual uplift, and this principle the World’s 
Student Christian Federation well illustrated. 
Scholars, leaders of European society in Pera, stu- 
dents of Mohammedan schools in Stamboul, be- 
‘sides many from the rank and file of the general 
public expressed their appreciation of the lectures.” 


Miss Ruth Rouse, Secretary of the Federation, 


188 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


has given a most significant report of her impres- 
sions and personal observations gathered during 
her visit of some weeks in Constantinople and in 
Bulgaria. She writes: 


“A recent visit to Constantinople was my first 
experience in the Near East. I went rather to 
learn than to work, and to prepare for a longer 
visit to Turkey and the Levant later. To visit 
Constantinople is an overwhelming experience and 
stretches every faculty of body, soul and spirit in 
the endeavour to grasp the marvelous city and the 
tremendous issues being worked out there. Rome 
is nothing to Constantinople when it comes to the 
bewildering way in which successive periods of 
history call for one’s whole self. Greek mythology 
revives Hero and Leander; Troy and Olympus are 
not so far off; Greek history grows vivid again, 
when you see where Darius crossed the Bosphorus. 
Then come the Roman and Byzantine Empires 
with all their monuments in old Stamboul; you 
live over again early Church history as you visit 
the old, old churches, now too often mosques; the 
Church councils and heresies gather meaning, as 
you trace their children in the Oriental churches 
of today, and meet Greeks, Gregorians, and 
Jacobites. 

“The Middle Ages reappear as one gazes on the 
marvellous sea-and-land walls of Constantinople, 
the towers and castles built by the great sea-powers 
of Genoa and Venice, and the traces of destruction 
wrought by the Crusades; then the shadow of 


PROGRESS IN THE COLLEGE 189 


the Crescent falls over all and the reign of Islam 
absorbs your thoughts till your Constantinople 
friends rouse you to note the signs of the with- 
drawal of that shadow through the revolution and 
the dawn of a better day. And if these things and 
the absorbing missionary problems leave a corner 
in the mind for the present day politics of the Near 
East, these will prove no less fascinating than the 
rest. And then the marvellous mixture of lan- 
guages, costumes, races, and nationalities that are 
met in the streets, and that none but an expert can 
disentangle, and the back-to-the-East-again atmos- 
phere, dear to one who has been in India! When I 
think it over, I do not wonder I was so tired in 
Constantinople. 


‘“ But it’s the new Constantinople that matters 
most from the Federation viewpoint—the Constan- 
tinople where, at every turn, appear signs of a 
new age; the newspapers of every party freely 
publishing news and men reading these newspapers 
at every corner; men talking politics loudly and 
fearlessly; broken-down sentry boxes, for military 
tyranny is out of date; Christian recruits in the 
Turkish army; the fez discarded by many Chris- 
tians in favour of other and less picturesque forms 
of headgear; the Sultan driving through the streets 
practically unguarded; Moslem women throwing 
back their veils and showing their faces, driving 
sometimes in open carriages; schools for girls open- 
ing here and there, and, strangest sight of all, Mos- 
lem girls in ever-increasing numbers in the schools. 
Moslem women’s literary and debating societies 


199 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


have been started and Christian missionaries have 
been invited to take part. Missionaries are face to 
face with an opportunity which has not been theirs 
for hundreds of years. God grant them boldness to 
seize it and wisdom to use it aright. 

“The American College for Girls at Constanti- 
nople is a place of immense possibilities and a 
splendid illustration of what the field is. It is a 
factor of great importance in the educational and 
religious development of the Near East in several 
respects. It brings together the most divergent 
factors, and teaches these various elements to know 
and trust one another. The influence of the college 
is great, not only socially and intellectually, but 
spiritually. ‘The girls do not forget the religious 
instruction they receive, nor do they forget the les- 
sons of trust, fellowship and love that they learn as 
they work side by side in the College Young 
Women’s Christian Association, of which many of 
them become members. I was struck in Bulgaria 
by the deep impression, both negatively and posi- 
tively, which the religious atmosphere of the col- 
lege had left on its graduates.” 


The interrelations of the various religions in 
Turkey have been affected by the great changes in 
the political and religious control of the land under 
the progressive rule of Mustapha Kemal Pasha, 
leading up to the final result of the separation of 
religion and nationality to a large degree in all the 
nationalities, and the legal separation of state and 
religion in the Turkish Republic. 


XV 


AN ISLE OF PEACE IN THE MIDST 
OF WAR 


TIME of entire peace is seldom known in 
the Near East. When there is not an actual 
war on, there is usually fighting in the 

Yemen, or an uprising in Macedonia, or a revolu- 
tion in Crete or Albania. Often the return of the 
students to college was held up by some rumour 
of war, together with some such suggestion as that 
the Macedonian Committee was about to blow up 
the Orient Express. On the whole, one became 
wonted to such scares and refused to be much con- 
cerned about them, taking the practical incon- 
veniences with stoicism. But the Balkan wars of 
1912 and 1913 created serious difficulties in the 
college. 

The first war, breaking out in September, was 
sudden, sharp and rapid. The Turks responded 
instantly to the attack of the Bulgarians, Greeks, 
Servians and Montenegrins, by a rapid mobilisa- 
tion. Every evening a crier went through the 
streets of the city, beating a drum and calling on 
all Ottoman subjects within certain ages to meet at 
stated places to be enrolled as soldiers. A panic 


191 


192 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


among the foreign residents followed, in which 
many of them left the city. Almost before they 
could realise it, the attacking armies were at 
Tchatalja, a few miles from the city, and the stu- 
dents went to sleep nightly to the grumble of 
big guns. 

A wave of patriotic emotion struck Turkey at 
this unexpected attack, and for the first time in 
their history, women took a share in political 
affairs. ‘To match the Red Cross, they had or- 
ganised the Red Crescent Society, and Turkish 
women became nurses in the hospitals. In this 
movement, at the same time feministic and patri- 
otic, Halideh Hanum was a prominent leader. 
Her ardour, her intelligence and her powers of 
oratory made her a most effective patriot. At the 
beginning of the war she made a strong speech, ° 
the following quotations from which give an idea 
of her power: 


‘Listen to the words engraved on stone hun- 
dreds of years ago by an early Turkish Padishah, 
‘God appointed me ruler that the name and fame 
of the Turkish race might not be extinguished. I 
was not appointed to rule over a rich people, but 
over a poor people, scantily supplied with food and 
clothing. For the Turkish race I slept not at night. 
I rested not by day. I worked for my people till 
death.’ Let us each in our measure adopt these 
words of our great ruler. ; 

“The supreme need is a burning patriotism. It 


PEACE IN THE MIDST OF WAR 193 


was the love of race which first made the Turks a 
great nation. It is our loss of this sentiment which 
has lessened our historical renown and laid us low. 
It is this love of race among our enemies that has 
made the Bulgarians, who were our milkmen half 
a century ago, a nation that has won the respect 
of Europe. 
* * * * 

“Let us solemnly covenant that in our struggle 
to make Turks worthy of their race and an honour 
to it, till they can proudly take and hold their place 
by the side of other people, we will shrink from no 
obstacles, or sacrifice, and when finally we close 
our eyes in death, let our consciences repeat the 
words, ‘ For the Turkish people I have not slept 
by night nor rested by day.’ ” 


As she finished these impassioned words, she 
stripped from her hands and arms her jeweled 
rings, bracelet, watch, and from her ears the rings, 
and cast them into a box placed to receive dona- 
tions for the national defense. Other women, 
stirred by her appeal and dramatic action, followed 
with their jewels, and offered their services as 
nurses. 

It was not only among Turkish women that 
patriotism was aroused. The Bulgarians also took 
hasty training and went into the Red Cross or into 
the hospitals. One Bulgarian graduate of the col- 
lege, who had married in Scotland, left her husband 
and child to come down to the Balkans, bringing 


194 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


funds that she had raised in the North, and nursing 
the wounded in the hospitals. Parashkevi Kyrias, 
called by the dangers in Albania, hastened home 
from Oberlin College, where she had been studying, 
and joined her menaced people, and her impas- 
sioned love for her mountain people was no whit 
slighter than that of Halideh’s. Nationalism was 
a vigourous plant. 

With so much feeling between the nationalities 
of the Levant, imagine the situation in a cosmo- 
politan college, composed of daughters of all the 
warring states, with scarcely a girl in college who 
did not have a father or brother or lover in one or 
other of the conflicting armies! 

But the long years of tolerance and friendliness 
between the students, and the resolutely loving and 
impartial attitude of the faculty counted, and the 
almost impossible was, at least in part, attained. 
As soon as the war actually began, the students 
agreed among themselves to make an effort to con- 
trol their feelings in regard to national events, and 
they even refrained from the observance of some 
national anniversaries for the preservation of peace 
among themselves. At the beginning of hostilities 
the Bulgarian students received a strong letter 
from the Bulgarian legation in the city, bidding 
them remain quietly in the college and to live as far 
as possible at peace with the other students. Both 
girls and faculty took great pains not to discuss 
irritatingly what was going on, and they lived to- 


PEACE IN THE MIDST OF WAR 195 


gether in so much outward harmony that a 
stranger would hardly have recognised that con- 
ditions were unusual. This required, however, a 
strong degree of self-control, and once or twice 
there was a breaking over and almost a schism in 
the school, but all was eventually harmonised by 
the calm, just and loving attitude of Dr. Patrick. 
The condition of the college was complicated by 
the fact that while the preparatory department was 
on the European shore of the Bosphorus, the col- 
lege was still in Scutari, at a considerable distance 
from any American contact. Ambassador Rockhill 
felt its isolation so strongly that he insisted on its 
removal to Arnautkeuy during the war. The regu- 
lar work of the college was suspended during the 
panic, the students who lived in the city were sent 
home and the rest, about sixty, mostly Bulgarians 
and Greeks, were sent to Arnautkeuy. The faculty 
now had the double responsibility of protecting the 
students at Arnautkeuy and safeguarding the prop- 
erty in Scutari. So the faculty divided, some going 
with the girls and some staying on the grounds. A 
large procession of students, led by two professors, 
and followed by the cook carrying the meat for the 
college dinner, marched down the hill to the Bos- 
phorus landing. At Arnautkeuy they were gra- 
ciously received by Dr. and Mrs. Murray, who 
made special arrangements for this notable addi- 
tion to their large enrollment of students. It was 
in one sense a relief to have all the Bulgarian stu- 


3 


196 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


dents on the European side of the Bosphorus, 
where they could easily be taken off on a steamer, 
if necessary, but, on the other hand, the news of 
the breaking-up of the school appeared in the press 
of Bulgaria and Greece and made it an extremely 
difficult matter to hold the student body together. 
Owing to the strong confidence placed in President 
Patrick and the college, the storm was weathered 
and only one Bulgarian and three Greek students 
were lost during the crisis. When it was learned 
that the Allied armies would not enter Constanti- 
nople, the panic subsided, and after three weeks 
the college resumed its normal sessions. 

War always being followed by poverty and dis- 
tress, Turkey suffered greatly after the Balkan 
wars. This was an opportunity to teach the col-_ 
lege students practical helpfulness. In the early 
part of the war the college made itself responsible 
for twenty-five beds, and three hundred garments 
for the wounded soldiers. The Turkish girls were 
naturally expected to help in this service, but it 
was a great satisfaction when Greeks and Bul- 
garians joined in this work for the Turkish sol- 
diers. As one girl remarked, “‘ The wounded have 
no nationality.” For two days all recitations were | 
suspended and the energies of faculty and students 
were devoted to making hospital outfits. At times 
when the work slackened, young faces would grow 
grave, and sometimes a student would lay down a 
completed garment, saying sadly, ‘‘Who knows 


PEACE IN THE MIDST OF WAR 197 


who will wear this?’ The Bulgarian and Greek 
students also undertook work for their own na- 
tional relief societies, and the college showed its 
impartial interest by sending money to the Red 
Cross in Sofia and in Athens, as well as to the Red 
Crescent in Constantinople. Gifts of money for 
relief were sent from America and administered by 
the college. Some of this money was used to re- 
lieve the dreadful conditions of the sufferers from 
the cholera in the camp at San Stefano, outside the 
city, some for hospitals and some to establish in- 
dustrial work among widows of soldiers and refu- 
gees. The college also paid, with funds furnished 
by the Red Cross, for one bed in the municipal 
hospital in Scutari. Over the bed was an inscrip- 
tion stating that it belonged to the Americans, a 
fact which seemed to interest the wounded soldiers 
greatly. 

Turkish soldiers were not at all accustomed to 
being nursed by women, for, until this war, there 
had been no women nurses. One soldier is said to 
have exclaimed with delight, “This is already 
Paradise,” evidently taking his beautiful Bulgarian 
nurse for a houri. Another interesting expression 
of gratitude came from an old Turkish hodja 
(teacher) who came to one of the relief depots for 
the express purpose of sending thanks to the people 
of America. He said: ‘ May the Lord of the Uni- 
verse, the God of all men, who are all of one family 
on the earth, look graciously on those who have 


198 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


shown such love and kindness. The servants of 
God here will always remember and rejoice in these 
good deeds.” 

On May 30, 1913, preliminaries of peace were 
agreed upon, but the signing of peace was delayed 
until October. War did not, however, cease. Jeal- 
ousy among the Balkan states culminated in a 
second war, in which Servia, Greece, Roumania 
and Montenegro attacked Bulgaria. Fortunately, 
this also was short, but it left Bulgaria so poor that 
very few students could be sent away to college. 

It seemed as though the American colleges in 

he Turkey had no higher mission than to teach toler- 
nace and friendliness among the nations, and to 
furnish an illustration of how varying nations and 
religions may and do live in harmony together. 
In a late college bulletin President Patrick writes: 


‘Suppose a cosmopolitan institution like ours 
should send out fifty graduates of several different — 
nationalities annually, each one imbued with a 
spirit of international love, how long would it take 
to bring peace to the Near East? A little thought, 
however, shows that it is not a question for mathe- 
matical calculation. The results of a spirit of 
uplift may come slowly, and then again they may 
come very suddenly in new types of individuals 
and new forms of government.” 


To the Americans of the faculty, living in this 
environment, with the ideals of Dr. Patrick con- 


PEACE IN THE MIDST OF WAR 199 


stantly before them, it was impossible not to get a 
conception of the brotherhood of man, the kinship 
of nations, and even the unity of religions that 
should follow them all their lives, and make them 
more loving of all other nationalities because of 
their experience in this American college in the 
Orient. 

More than once Dr. Patrick brought out the 
idea that the one reason why harmony could be 
maintained in this centre of conflicting interests 
is that the college has a common language— 
English. She thinks that one of the great causes 
of discord in the Near East is the lack of mutual 
understanding that springs from an ignorance of 
the language, hence the ideas of other nations. 
On this subject she has this to say: 


‘ All the nations of the Balkans speak different 
languages, but in the Turkish Empire the separa- 
tion is even greater. People of the same town, 
often those living in the same street, even in the 
same apartment-house, do not speak the same lan- 
guage, bringing about a separation that influences 
the family life and extends to the schools, to their 
press and to their churches. . . . A commonly 
spoken language is one of the reasons why harmony 
between races exists in the college.” 


She then urges that English should be taught 
throughout these lands as a second language, and 
as.a basis of understanding between the nations. 


200 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


Besides the common language, another influence 
for solidarity in the student body is the Student 
Government Association. 

When the American College for Girls in Con- 
stantinople grew out of the American High School, 
a Student Government Association on lines then 
followed at Bryn Mawr College was established. 
It was a very new thing for Oriental girls, whose 
life had tended to teach them great dependence, 
but they took to it wonderfully. For a number of 
years, the president and leaders of the Association 
were often English or American girls; then, for a 
considerable period, it was very frequently the 
Protestant girls, who had been trained in mission 
schools, who were chosen by the girls as leaders. 
But as time went on, all of the students grew into 
the idea of self-government and girls of all nation- 
alities and religions took their places on the Board. 

The success of this Student Government Associ- 
ation was specially noticeable to Dr. Vivian, who, 
coming from Wellesley College and other Ameri- 
can institutions, had as acting president for two 
years an excellent chance to see the workings of 
this association and compare it with those she had 
known in America. In one of her reports she 
wrote: 


‘“‘'The method of student government employed 
in the college is a great help in harmonising na- 
tional differences. Such a system places each stu- 


PEACE IN THE MIDST OF WAR 201 


dent in a relation to the whole body of students 
that is extra-national, and that is of great advan- 
tage in the development of the student and the 
solution of college problems. When one considers 
the background of training and influence from 
which these students come, it is a matter for con- 
siderable surprise that student government meets 
here with the success that it does. Compared with 
the same system in American colleges, we should, I 
think, be considered among the best exponents of 
the system.” 


Only once in the history of the college was it 
necessary to suspend the association, and that was 
in the crucial autumn of 1914-15, when the college 
had just crossed the Bosphorus, and the war had 
started. The faculty committee on order took over 
control, the order steadily improving until the 
students were able to take it back into their own 
hands, a year later. 

President Patrick, in an article for an American 
magazine, in 1922, brings out the value of this 
Student Government Association as offering train- 
ing in citizenship. She wrote as follows: 


“The Student Government Association in the 
college offers a certain amount of preparation for Pst 
citizenship in the different countries to which the 
students belong. It provides opportunity for prac- 
tice in electing officers and in making laws and 
putting them into effect. The meetings are con- 


202 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


ducted according to the regulations of parliament- 
ary law, and carried on largely by students from 
nations that at present [1922] are, or have been 
in the past, at war with each other. It is a very 
interesting fact, however, that in this miniature 
republic, officers are nearly always elected accord- 
ing to merit and not on the basis of national preju- 
dice. The association has two divisions, one for 
graduate students, including the Medical Depart- 
ment, the other for undergraduates. The presi- 
dent of the one for the coming year is a Greek with 
a Russian assistant, and of the other an Armenian, 
and even during the last year of the war, when the 
national tension was unusually strong, a Turk was 
elected by a large majority. 


‘“‘ Election day is a great occasion, and rousing 
cheers from the assembly hall announce the vic- 
tory of the candidates elected. The training in 
some of the duties of citizenship is most necessary. 
Roumania passed the law for woman suffrage some 
months ago, adding a supplementary regulation 
requiring as well as permitting women to vote. 
The Greek cabinet passed a vote for woman suf- 
frage more than a year ago at the time of a large 
and enthusiastic Woman’s Congress in Athens, 
although the disturbed state of the country pre- 
vented this vote from being ratified; recently, how- 
ever, the question has been revived in Greece and 
it is hoped that the law in favour of woman suffrage 
will be put into execution in the near future. 

“The importance of training in citizenship is 
also recognised in some of the regular departments 


PEACE IN THE MIDST OF WAR 203 


of the college, but the practical responsibility for 
making and carrying out the laws of the Student 
Government Association and of electing its officers 
is of far more value than class-room statements on 
theories of government. In the weekly student 
forum, however, many questions of general interest 
in national affairs are freely discussed, from 
“Free Trade and Protection,” “The Best Form 
of Government,” down to “ Best Profession for 
Women,” and “ Should Women Follow the Fash- 
ions? ” As the subjects are usually chosen by the 
students themselves, the discussions are often very 
animated.” 


There is one group of students who, despite their 
not being Oriental and never forming a large pro- 
portion of the student body, nevertheless demand 
special mention; namely the English students. 
Having the advantage of knowing the language of 
the college, and being more used to self-government 
than the Oriental girls, their small groups were 
almost always influential, and many of the individ- 
uals were conspicuous both as students and in 
social offices. Among those who did fine work and 
later taught in the college, four stand out: Winifred 
Seager, class of 1891, who for some years was head 
of the music department of the college, both before 
and after her marriage to Mr. Middleton Edwards, 
and who has always been very active in the alumnz 
association; Nellie Summers, class of 1906, who has 
taught efficiently in the preparatory school and has 


204 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


been its registrar since her graduation; Vivian Ed- 
wards, class of 1894, who, herself a charming 
singer, taught music for awhile in the college, and 
then, after study in Germany, went to America, 
where, besides her own musical work, she organ- 
ised entertainments for the benefit of the alumnz 
fund; and Eveline Thomson, now the wife of Pro- 
fessor Scott, of Robert College, who graduated in 
1908, spent a year in the Training College for 
Women Teachers in Cambridge, England, then 
came to America, where she took a master’s degree 
at Columbia University. She has served the col- 
lege in the capacity of assistant in the New York 
office of Constantinople Woman’s College, and as 
a teacher in the preparatory school. 


XVI 


MARY MILLS PATRICK REALISES HER 
DREAM | 


N the spring of 1914, eight years after the 
decision to buy the property at Arnautkeuy, 
buildings were ready to receive Constantinople 

College for Women, and they moved over from 
Scutari, in April. How different were the splendid 
new buildings from the shabby old ones at Scutari! 
Besides some old but useful buildings on the 
campus, there had been erected four in a proposed 
line of seven buildings and also a power-house. 
The four college structures form an impressive 
group, the centre of which is Gould Hall, a fine 
building, one hundred and fifty feet long, in Greek 
style with Ionic columns. In this building are the 
Marble Hall, and above it the Assembly Hall large 
enough to seat seven hundred people, the library 
and reading room, study-hall, museum, studio, a 
large number of recitation rooms, faculty living- 
rooms, guest-rooms, president’s private rooms, and, 
in the basement, a temporary gymnasium. The 
harmonious Assembly Hall with its excellent acou- 
stics has received two beautiful gifts from the 
alumne association, one being a grand piano and 


205 


206 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


the other a pipe-organ, dedicated to the memory 
of Dean Flora A. Fensham. 

Among its books, the library contains the private 
library of Sir Edwin Pears, the English barrister 
and historian, who for many years was the devoted 
friend of the college. Furniture, books and art 
treasures sent from her home in Boston by Miss 
Borden enrich library and art museum. This 
art museum is the result of many years’ work 
on the part of Professor Isabel F. Dodd, the 
head of the department of art and achzology. 
It contains Greek, Roman and Byzantine coins, 
Tanagra figurines, broken iridescent glass from 
a first century grave in Cappadocia, ancient 
Greek pottery, and a case of Egyptian objects, 
as well as a collection of beautiful and character- 
istic national textiles, the gift of Miss Olivia P. 
Stokes. 

The second building, Sarah Lindley Mitchell 
Hall, called the refectory, contains dining-rooms, 
serving rooms, kitchen and a large banquet-hall, 
which was turned over to dormitory use. On the 
fourth floor are sleeping rooms. 

The third building, Henry Woods Hall, is a 
science hall. Its laboratories, lecture-rooms and 
research-rooms, all furnished with modern equip- 
ment, offer a model to the Near East. 

The fourth building is Russell Sage Hall, a dor- 
mitory accommodating one hundred and thirty 
students, and furnishing beautiful parlours for the 


HNOLS NI GHZVIVaa NVA SAOILVd STHN AUVA 











4 


REALISES HER DREAM 207 


social life of the students. It has a very beautiful 
view over the Bosphorus. 

The Rockefeller power-house supplies the entire 
row of buildings with water, heat and light. The 
erection of the other three buildings of the original 
group of seven was indefinitely postponed, but here 
were enough for a full and rich college life. 

The site of the college is on a tableland three 
hundred feet above the water, in a park of fifty- 
four acres. The land is cultivated with trees and 
flowers, including a beautiful chestnut grove, a 
“cedar of Lebanon,” and a “labyrinth ”’ of box. 
Easy access to the entrance of the property had 
been made by new trolley-lines from Stamboul to 
the adjacent village of Bebek, and the private col- 
lege road leading from the Bosphorus to the heights 
has been redeemed from mud and rough furrows 
into a fine driveway. 

The dedication of the new buildings and grounds 
took place June 3, 1914, just six weeks after occu- 
pation. The exercises of Dedication Day were 
presided over by the American ambassador, the 
Honourable Henry Morgenthau, and addresses 
were made by the Turkish Minister of Public In- 
struction, the Prefect of the City of Constantinople, 
three American trustees, Dr. Peet, of Constanti- 
nople, the American Consul-General, President 
Gates, of Robert College, the Bulgarian Min- 
ister, the second Vice-President of the Chamber 
of Deputies, the Grand Rabbi, a representative 


208 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


of the Greek legation and the President of the 
Armenian National Council. The British Embassy, 
unable to be present, sent special greetings. 

But in the midst of this galaxy of distinguished 
persons, President Patrick was easily the star. 
Everyone recognised that the day was her triumph. 
In her doctor’s gown and hood she was an imposing 
figure, the cynosure of all eyes. Ambassador 
Morgenthau presented her with the American flag 
in jewels, Smith College sent her the honourary 
degree of LL.D., the British and American colony 
in Constantinople gave her an address of appreci- 
ation on a silver salver, and Sultan Mehmet sent 
her the order of the Shefakat, while telegrams and 
letters of congratulation rained upon her. 

Some of the speeches, or fragments of them, will 
show in what esteem she and the college were held, 
both in America and Turkey. 

Dr. W. W. Peet, legal advisor of the college, in 
speaking in behalf of the Rockefeller gift, prefaced 
his remarks with a few words about the college and 
President Patrick. 


“This beautiful location and these noble build- 
ings,” he said, ‘‘ are the result of plans for enlarge- 
ment of the college, and every friend of the college 
knows how much of this result is due to the fore- 
sight and untiring industry of President Patrick, 
who, in the face of great difficulties, has led the 
campaign for enlargement to a triumphant success. 
She has had the vision, the purpose, the faith in 


REALISES HER DREAM 209 


that consummation of which today we begin to see 
the suggestion, the dawning of that for which she 
worked with such untiring devotion. To say that 
Dr. Patrick has succeeded where most would have 
failed, that she has led her cause from discourage- 
ment to victory, is simply to express what everyone 
acknowledges today.” 


Ambassador Morgenthau, in his speech of wel- 
come, said in part: 


“IT am overjoyed to stand here in this beautiful 
hall, typical of all the buildings, surrounded by the 
able women who have been connected with this 
institution from its very inception, the representa- 
tives of the donors of the various buildings, some 
of the trustees, the faculty that imparts the knowl- 
edge, the alumnz who are already spreading its 
fame, the pupils who are its latest beneficiaries, the 
architects and mechanics who have so well carried 
out the plans, the well-wishers of the institution, 
the representatives of the Turkish government and 
the various religious communities, the diplomatic 
representatives of various countries, and note the 
joy and happiness that thrill us all at this ‘ coming- 
out party’ of this beautiful bride—the American 
College for Girls at Constantinople.” 


Later, in presenting the jeweled flag to Dr. Pat- 
rick, Mr. Morgenthau said: 


“We have just heard what magnificent presents 


210 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


have been showered on the college, the ‘ debutante ’ 
of the occasion. Now let us think of the ‘ chap- 
eron,’ the one who has nursed her in her infancy, 
trained her in her childhood, developed her char- 
acter during her adolescence, and who now escorts 
her forth into the world to take her place among 
her older sisters, well-equipped to do her full duty. 
That one, her beloved president, Dr. Patrick, 
should also receive some recognition at our hands.” 


The two Turkish officials both expressed grati- 
tude officially and personally to the Americans 
who made possible this education offered to Ori- 
ental girls. The representative of the trustees, Mr. 
George A. Plimpton, LL.D., of New York, in his 
speech of dedication, said: 


“Education and religion form the joint-foun- 
dation of America’s prosperity. How better can 
America, out of her abundance, repay her debt to 
the East than by giving back what she has received 
from them with interest? And she does it gladly. 

“Two factors have made this gift possible. 
First, the support of the Ottoman Empire, through 
His Imperial Majesty. For two-score years the 
college has enjoyed protection, peace, safety and 
security, and has had the approval of the Imperial 
Ottoman Empire, for our efforts to provide an edu- 
cation for all, regardless of race, religion or 
nationality. 

“Secondly, all this has been accomplished 
through the inspiration of our leader, Dr. Patrick, 


REALISES HER DREAM 211 


the president of our college. She it is who has 
crystallised the forces of America. Her love of the 
East, of its people and its possibilities, has infused 
itself into the donors and friends of this institu- 
tion; with the result that we have here a most 
beautiful site and noble buildings dedicated, today 
and for all time, for the benefit of the peoples of 
this country.” 


The keys of the buildings were then presented to 
Mary Mills Patrick with speeches of thanks to the 
donors by suitable representatives, and Dr. Pat- 
rick received them with the following words: 


‘“‘ The college accepts, today, a great responsibil- 
ity. To us are entrusted these new buildings, 
erected by some of the leading philanthropists of 
the United States of America for the purpose of 
education in its broadest sense. We accept this 
trust with enthusiasm, and with the earnest inten- 
tion on the part of all who control college activities 
to devote their best efforts to the development of 
the highest type of education.” 


After expressing her gratitude to the donors of 
the buildings, the architects and builders, the 
“broad, sympathetic and earnest Board of Trus- 
tees,’ and to friends who had made the college 
possible, Dr. Patrick continued: 


“¢ Service will be the keynote of our college aim, 
not to ‘rust unburnished’ but to ‘shine in use,’ 


a 
Se 
Fl 


212 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


for we wish to render to the Ottoman Empire and 
the other nations of the Near East such affiliation 
with their own educational systems as shall be of 
the greatest assistance. We desire this to be a 
college characterised by sympathy and understand- 
ing of the needs and aspirations of all in this part 
of the world, a place where young women of differ- 
ent nationalities shall feel at home, and find their 
own national and religious customs and beliefs re- 
spected. We aim to promote scholarship of a high 
grade, true love of research and study, and all that 
pertains to the higher thought-life. 

“The character-building which takes place here 
must be of a kind in which every student shall find 
the reality of her higher life in goodness and truth. 
Our plans also include attention to the practical 
arts, for we recognise the need of developing scien- 
tific knowledge and trained ability in the economic 
and social relations of the ordinary affairs of life. 

‘“‘ A fundamental part of our aim will be the edu- 
cation of teachers,—teachers who shall have spe- 
cialised training, able to instruct in the humanities 
and in science, in mathematics and in all branches 
of the practical arts. An educational centre here, 
worthy of the leadership to which we aspire, should 
include a strong medical department, in which doc- 
tors and nurses could be educated for Turkey and 
all parts of the Near East. 

“‘ Civilisation is everywhere developing new pro- 
fessions and, both for old and new, training is 
needed. Such training of whatever kind demanded 
should be furnished here. . . . There is no limit 





STATELY ARMENIAN MAIDENS PRESENTING 
TEES ANCIENT LIFE, 





GREEKS EOVELINESS 


Harking back to the ancient world in the Pageant of the 
Nations 





& 


REALISES HER DREAM 213 


to the larger vision of growth that may be possible 
to meet the growing needs. . . . May the future 
of the American College for Girls be illuminated 
by the spirit of God, and become a centre of 
knowledge, of harmony and peace.” 


_ Following the exercises in Gould Hall, the com- 
pany adjourned to the terrace, where they wit- 
nessed an appropriate and beautiful pageant of the 
nations represented by the college. 

First came the Turkish group, in picturesque 
costumes, carrying their red flag. Then, from the 
opposite side of the terrace came the American 
group, escorted by a herald, the standard-bearer 
representing Liberty, followed by three girls, one 
dressed as an Indian, one as a Puritan maiden and 
one as a modern scholar. Then came the Hebrew 
group, the standard-bearer carrying the college 
banner, and accompanied by two girls representing 
Ruth and Naomi. Britannia was represented by an 
alumna, and the French Republic was represented 
by a French student. Then came the large group 
of Armenians in gorgeous costumes with national 
songs and dances. Next were a Servian student in 
national dress and a Swiss group in peasant cos- 
tume. The Bulgarians marched costumed as an 
ancient king and queen, courtiers, monks and peas- 
ants. They were followed by an Albanian group 
and a German student both in peasant dress. The 
pageant was closed by a Greek group, representing 


214 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


a scene from the Panathenaic procession. Both 
the Greeks and the Bulgarians gave charming 
dances with songs. To close the pageant, the 
whole body advanced toward the audience and 
sang a college song describing the international 
character of their beloved college. 

The keynote of the day was hope. The great 
international college to which Mary Mills Patrick 
had given her life, her great power, her vision, 
stood before her, incomplete but beautiful. Stu- 
dents were ready to crowd her portals the next 
season. There was still much work to be done, for 
other buildings were needed and endowment had 
yet to be raised, and further plans for the future 
were indicated in her speech. But there before her 
was a tangible accomplishment and brilliant pros- 
pects. That was in June, 1914. Before the college 
could open in September and work out its happy 
plans, the world was plunged into war. 


XVII 


THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE 
COURSES 


T this point a glance may probably be taken 
over the work done by the American Col- 
lege for Girls in Constantinople and see 

what courses it offered and how it compared with 
a college in America. 

By 1914, when the college moved into its new 
quarters, its degree was accepted for entrance to 
any university in Europe except London, and its 
graduates had taken graduate work in Teachers’ 
College, Oberlin College, Chicago University and 
Johns Hopkins University in the United States. 
The academic studies included, besides much more 
language work than is required in American col- 
leges, the usual subjects, such as mathematics, 
physics, chemistry, biology, geology and astron- 
omy; courses in history, sociology, psychology and 
philosophy, Bible, ethics, art and archzology, to- 
gether with logic, bibliography, and other subjects, 
when especially demanded. The college course was 
four years, although there was always a special 
class of students who had entered from Bulgarian 
or Greek gymnasia without a knowledge of English. 


215 


216 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


The original high school, from which the college 
developed, persisted as a preparatory department. 
That once had a full kindergarten and primary de- 
partment, but after the school became crowded, 
it was reduced to three classes. This, however, 
proved insufficient, owing to the lack of prepara- 
tion, especially in English, of the pupils, so by 
1914 it had become a five-year course, with special 
classes given to the English preparation of pupils 
for advanced classes. 

From early days a music department was de- 
manded by the music-loving Orientals. This con- 
sisted of a piano-department, general chorus work 
and special training for the college choir, and 
special violin and organ lessons. In 1909, two 
theory classes were introduced, one in harmony and 
composition, the other in the history of music and 
musical form. A very large number of the stu- 
dents elected instrumental music. There were 
many sweet voices among the girls, and they took 
naturally to singing, but most of them had been 
totally unaccustomed to singing in parts before 
they came to this college. They were very enthusi- 
astic when a college orchestra was started later. 

The beginnings of the practical arts were small 
and rather amusing to look back on. Early in the 
history of the college, the faculty wished that the 
students might know more about what we now call 
domestic science. In those days, whenever any- 
thing extra had to be done, it was done by the 


DEVELOPMENT OF COURSES 217 


versatile and ever-willing American professors. 
So, behold Miss Prime giving simple lessons in 
cooking; the trained nurse, borrowing a baby from 
a servant’s family and teaching the seniors how to 
care for it, and the revered president attempting to 
show the amused girls how much better one could 
sweep with a long-handled broom than with the 
short brush of heather-sprigs to which they were 
accustomed! In 1912, a more professional course 
of one hour a week, called domestic science, was 
introduced. 

By 1919, a somewhat heterogeneous department 
known as the department of practical arts was 
started. This contained a simple course in agri- 
culture which was the study of farming, an ele- 
mentary course in domestic science, courses in 
drawing and painting, in typewriting and stenog- 
raphy and in commercial arithmetic and bookkeep- 
ing. The course in agriculture received a great 
stimulus when, the next year, an American man 
who was well fitted to carry on the agricultural 
courses was sent to the college to become business 
manager and treasurer. These courses were very 
practical, as the many wars had made it necessary 
for girls to begin to support themselves, and these 
courses fitted them to enter offices or work on 
farms. That same year, one of the American pro- 
fessors succeeded in getting the Home Economics 
Association of the United States to send out to 
Constantinople a professor of home economics, who 


218 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


organised a strong department, and got it on its feet 
in the two years that she was there. After her de- 
parture the Home Economics Association contin- 
ued to send out professors. 

A great many of the graduates of the college 
have always become teachers. It was quite a cus- 
tom for the mission schools of Asia Minor and 
Bulgaria to give scholarships to graduates whom 
they bound to teach in the school on their return 
from Constantinople. In 1909, a one-hour elective 
course in education was offered, and in 1910 this 
was raised to two hours. By 1911, President Pat- 
rick was calling attention to the need for a school 
of education. In the President’s Report for that 
year she wrote as follows: © 


“The present is a time of unusual opportunity 
in the Near East, and while twelve thousand 
women teachers are now required for the new 
schools to be established by the Turkish govern- 
ment for girls, only a few hundred are available. 
The greatest need of the present time, not only in 
the Turkish Empire but in the Near East in gen- 
eral, is a School of Education. The enterprise 
should be especially endowed to furnish normal and 
vocational training, to introduce the domestic arts 
and sciences into the homes of the people, and to 
provide practical training in hygiene and physical 
education. Such a school connected with Con- 
stantinople College would not only train individ- 
uals in these different activities, but would furnish 


DEVELOPMENT OF COURSES 219 


educators for the schools of the empire who would 
in their turn teach thousands of other students.” 


A three-year normal course in gymnastics was 
begun in 1912, that fitted girls to teach gymnastics. 
But the school of education is as yet but a dream. 

When Mary Mills Patrick came to Constanti- 
nople, medicine, hygiene and nursing were very 
slightly developed in the empire. There were 
native doctors and surgeons, but not a native 
woman-nurse in Turkey. Many of the ideas of 
taking care of the sick were superstitions concern- 
ing the health-giving breath of ‘“ holy men,” or 
the medicinal value of a verse from the Koran 
swallowed or pasted on the afflicted member. 
Men-doctors were not allowed to attend Moslem 
women, and the midwives performed their offices 
very unintelligently. The need for women doctors 
and nurses was a crying one. 

The first graduate of the college to study medi- 
cine was Zarouhi Kavaldjian, class of 1898. She 
was the daughter of an Armenian physician in the 
town of Adabazaar. She had to go to America to 
study, as there was nothing open to her in Turkey. 
When she came home with her M.D. she could not 
get official permission to practise in Turkey. But 
she went with her father on his rounds and grad- 
ually worked up an excellent practice of her own. 
She was followed by Amalia Frisch, class of 1901. 
Like Miss Kavaldjian, she was the daughter of a 


220 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


physician, her father being a Hungarian of Con- 
stantinople. She took her medical degree in Berne 
and also returned to work with her father, later 
becoming assistant in the Austrian hospital in Pera. 

Aghavni Demirdjian was another Armenian stu- 
dent who became interested in medicine. She was 
a poor girl living in Scutari. Her mother was a 
washwoman, and Aghavni used to carry the laun- 
dry to her clients. One day the daughter of a rich 
Turk to whom Aghavni was taking laundry saw her 
bright face and asked her where she went to school. 
Gul, the Turkish girl, ended by saying, “ Well, you 
ought to go to the American school where I go. Go 
home and tell your mother you must go, and if she 
objects, kick and scream until she lets you.” But 
Aghavni did not need to kick and scream. As Gul 
would pay for the school Mrs. Demirdjian was de- 
lighted to have Aghavni take it. So the little girl 
(who never became very big) was for years a day 
scholar in the school, and finally, in her last year, 
was given a college scholarship as a boarder. 

By this time her brother had moved to Paris, 
where he made Turkish Delight (Rahat Locoum) 
for the Parisians, and a sister had gone there, too, 
to sew. Aghavni wished very much to study medi- 
cine; she thought that after taking her degree she 
would come back to Turkey and learn from the old 
women who gather herbs all they knew and teach 
them some things and be a sort of missionary doc- 
tor. She was not so fortunate as Miss Kavaljian 


DEVELOPMENT OF COURSES 221 


and Miss Frisch in her financial backing. She 
lived with her brother and sister in two rooms, in 
which the man made his sweets and the girl sewed 
for Aghavni and herself and as many clients as she 
could, while Aghavni, after her day of study, would 
take packages of Turkish Delight to her brother’s 
customers. In this hard fashion Aghavni Demird- 
jian obtained her medical education. 

Surpigh Vosquemadn was a sweet Armenian girl, 
of only fair scholarship, but a motherly nature that 
delighted to bind up the wounded, whether animal 
or human. When she graduated, in 1899, she 
greatly desired to become a nurse. She was an 
orphan and her brother did not sympathise with 
her plans. But she persisted. Armed with five 
dollars and a letter of introduction to some English 
friends of the college, she went to London, alone. 
And she had always been considered timid! ‘The 
English family befriended and guided her and she 
took her diploma as a registered nurse. When she 
returned to Constantinople, the first native trained- 
nurse in the Ottoman Empire, she created a sensa- 
tion. She was pretty and charming and was soon 
received into noble Turkish families as nurse, mid- 
wife, doctor and general adviser. As there was no 
word in either Turkish or Armenian for “ nurse,” 
they called her “ hekim,” or doctor. Her influence 
in these families was always progressive and often 
she would advise the mothers to send their growing 
daughters to the American school. She always felt 


222 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


that the college was her home, and when she passed 
on, in her prime, the college felt a keen grief for 
her and a great admiration for the pioneer work 
that she had done. 

In Greece, the splendid work of Cleoniki Clonare 
as head of the Prince’s Hospital for Children, was 
also a credit to the college. It was through her 
work that the offer from Princess Sophia to send 
two Greek students to study nursing in Amer- 
ica was made in 1905, but unfortunately there was 
no senior or alumna in a position to benefit by the 
proposal. 

After the college removed to Arnautkeuy the 
interest in medicine increased. Shulamit Ben 
Harel was a very brilliant Hebrew girl, who, after 
her graduation in 1917, taught both biology and 
Hebrew in the college for a time. Then she went 
to the University of Chicago, where she took a 
course in biology followed by the study of medicine 
at Johns Hopkins University. She is now a suc- 
cessful practitioner and an ardent Zionist. Two 
fine Turkish students to take degrees in medicine 
were Safieh Ali, class of 1916, who holds the degree 
of doctor of medicine from the University of 
Wuertzburg, and Bedrieh Veyssi, class of 1917, 
who studied medicine in Munich. 

In 1914, a course in college hygiene was offered 
by the college nurse. For some years President 
Patrick had been earnestly desiring to have in con- 
nection with the college a training school for 


DEVELOPMENT OF COURSES 223 


nurses, which seemed to involve a school of medi- 
cine and a hospital. She felt that students should 
not be forced to go to Europe or America to take 
this work. The active work of so many of the stu- 
dents and alumnz in nursing during the wars inten- 
sified her feeling. 

In her Report of 1919-20, the President wrote 
with the joy of one attaining a long-desired end, 
as follows: 


“Constantinople College has deep satisfaction 
in announcing that the medical department to 
which it so long aspired has, this year, assumed 
shape, and will be in actual operation by the open- 
ing of the next college year. Dr. Alden R. Hoover 
arrived in the spring of 1919, authorised by the 
trustees to organise a medical department as a 
part of Constantinople College, and plans have 
been formed and executed as rapidly as circum- 
stances permit. An inspiring gift of one hundred 
thousand dollars from William Bingham, 2nd, of 
Cleveland, Ohio, in September, 1919, for ‘ medical 
education for women’ lent a wonderful impetus 
to the growing project.” 


The plan comprised a two-year pre-medical 
course and a four-year full course in medicine lead- 
ing to the degree of doctor of medicine, also a 
training school for nurses conducted along the 
same lines as similar schools in America. The 
main difficulty was to secure hospital facilities 


224 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


where nurses and future medical students could 
obtain necessary training in American methods of 
medicine and nursing. This was happily solved by 
the establishment of an American hospital in the 
city with the help of the American Chapter of the 
Red Cross and under the American community in 
Constantinople. All during the war, and after- 
wards, the college worked very closely with the 
Red Cross. The director of the hospital was 
also director of the medical department of the 
college and the hospital superintendent was also 
superintendent of the college training-school for 
nurses. 

The work began with two out-patient clinics and 
quickly demonstrated its usefulness. The first 
pre-medical class and the first class in nursing 
opened September, 1920. In that year nineteen 
students entered the pre-medical course, of whom 
three were able to enter the freshman medical year 
the following season. Six girls entered the training 
school for nurses. 

The American Hospital was formally opened in 
buildings in Stamboul, August 20, 1920. Our High 
Commissioner Rear-Admiral Mark L. Bristol, who 
was chairman of its governing committee, presid- 
ing. A strong advisory committee from the city 
assisted the main committee. The equipping of 
the hospital was made possible by the generous 
co-operation of the Red Cross and the Near East 
Relief, so that seventy-eight beds were soon 


DEVELOPMENT OF COURSES 225 


equipped. The Red Cross also temporarily loaned 
American nurses, who were needed to start it. 

Although primarily serving the American colony 
in Constantinople, numbering several hundred, ex- 
clusive of the sailors on the naval boats, the hos- 
pital served as a general hospital irrespective of 
race or creed. It was especially useful, that first 
year, in caring for Russian refugees. 

The year 1924 was most happily begun by the 
completion of the Mary Payne Bingham medical 
building, given by William Bingham, 2nd, a trustee 
of the college, in memory of his mother. Despite 
the heavy expense of all post war construction, Mr. 
Bingham’s gift is the best and most finely equipped 
building of its sort south of Vienna. By the end 
of that year two students had fully completed the 
sophomore class of the medical school and four, 
the freshman class, and fifty neat-handed nurses 
were in the Training School. 

Bingham Building was formally presented to the 
college on Commencement Day, 1924. The build- 
ing is very useful, but for the time being not quite 
as Dr. Patrick hoped, for in April, 1924, the gov- 
ernment at Angora closed the medical department 
of Constantinople Woman’s College on the ground 
that the college had never obtained permission 
from the government to carry on professional 
work. The Nurses’ Training School, however, 
continues its work, the majority of its students 
now being Turkish girls. 


226 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


The English department offered a course in jour- 
nalism and in time edited a weekly and a quarterly. 
The art department grew from a one-year course 
in the history of art to two years in this branch of 
history with one in archeology. Constantinople is 
an especially fine place for this study. It is a great 
centre for archeologists, who pass through on their 
way to all Mediterranean ruins, and whose inspira- 
tion was often given to the college. Professor 
Dodd worked up a most attractive department, 
and a number of graduating students have chosen 
some subject in art or archeology for their final 
thesis. This is one of the departments in which 
graduate work is easily done. 

In the year 1919, there were four graduate stu- 
dents in the college, and in that year the degree of 
master of arts was given for the first time. Quot- 
ing from the President’s Report for 1920-21; 


‘“¢ Education in Czecho-Slovakia, Serbia, Greece, 
Roumania and Bulgaria is well advanced, but the 
present elective work of Constantinople College in 
the junior and senior classes is of a kind to attract 
attention here. The college plans for such stu- 
dents classes of two kinds: the first in academic 
work leading to the degree of B.A., and the second, 
specialised work for training teachers. Students 
completing these courses will receive a special 
teachers’ certificate. The classes for teachers may 
lead to the bachelor’s degree or the master’s de- 
gree according to the preparation offered.” 


DEVELOPMENT OF COURSES 227 


This brief sketch will show that Mary Mills Pat- 
rick, now that she had her international college, 
had not ceased to dream, and that, somehow, her 
dreams often came true. 

The college had a great many interesting visitors 
both from the city and from Europe and America. 
Sometimes they would come in groups on tourist 
steamers and special expeditions, at which times 
the American professors would turn themselves 
into guides, and the college would hold receptions. 
Sometimes they would come singly: archeologists 
in Constantinople en route for Egypt, Palestine or 
other parts of Asia Minor, historians to study 
Byzantine historical sites, clergymen interested in 
the Holy Land and the Levant, officers of the naval 
“‘stationaires ” in the harbour, missionaries and 
consuls bound for the interior of Turkey, in times 
of war, all sorts and conditions of journalists, dip- 
lomats of many countries accredited to the Sublime 
Porte, and tourists of every variety. 

Sometimes certain of these visitors preached the 
Sunday sermon or gave lectures to the students. 
The lectures were of all possible styles and quali- 
ties. One early consul was long remembered for a 
somewhat embarrassed address, in which he kept 
repeating the phrase—‘‘ woman is just like a par- 
lour car, just like a parlour car.” Another worthy 
speaker finished his sermon with a prayer in which 
he invoked the blessing of God on “ these young 
ladies,” meaning the students, and then on “‘ these 


228 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


ladies—ahem—of comparative youth,” referring to 
the teachers, who for years after were often laugh- 
ingly alluded to as the “ladies of comparative 
youth.” One priestly visitor, entering the teachers’ 
sitting-room, pointed to several of the women there, 
and asked: “Are you married? And you? And 
your”? And finding that none were, threw up his 
hands and exclaimed, “ All martyrs to a noble 
cause.” This was a little embarrassing to young 
women who had chosen the life they were leading 
because they found it attractive, and some of whom 
still had hopes of matrimony. 

Some of the lectures, such as the historical lec- 
tures of Sir Edwin Pears and Sir William Ramsay, 
some delightful lectures on Persian and Russian 
literature by distinguished speakers of those na- 
tionalities, talks on American conditions by several 
of our chargés d’affaires and consuls-general, and 
some never-to-be-forgotten sermons by eminent 
divines passing through the city, were a great en- 
richment to the year’s work. It became somewhat 
of a joke that when a traveller had no especial 
topic to discuss, he often fell back on the story of 
Florence Nightingale, whose Crimean War hospital 
was not far from Scutari, not seeming to realise 
that the tale could not possibly be new to the 
personnel of the college. 

Occasionally the college was honoured by visits 
by trustees from America, and once in a while 
there was a great flurry when a member of the 


DEVELOPMENT OF COURSES 229 


Rockefeller or Carnegie Foundation, on investiga- 
tion bent, turned his steps its way. Occasionally, 
too, the Armenian or Greek Patriarch called on 
such of his flock as attended the college, and gra- 
ciously extended the palm of his hand to be kissed, 
and now and then a Turkish official dignified one 
of the college entertainments by his presence. 

The great social event of the year, however, was 
Charter Day, when the erection of the school into 
a college was celebrated with fitting exercises. 
Several times a year there were dramatic enter- 
tainments given by the Greek classes, who pre- 
sented such plays as Iphegenia, Electra, and an 
occasional modern Greek play, the Armenians, who 
sometimes wrote and staged a simple play, the 
Turks, who did the same thing later, the Bul- 
garians, who gave attractive entertainments, the 
French department, who gave Moliére or contem- 
porary plays according to the taste of the head of 
the department, and the two literary societies, who 
presented such plays as Cranford, As You Like It, 
The Land of Hearts’ Desire, and the Sanscrit play 
Sakuntala. As the students had pronounced his- 
trionic ability, these plays were thoroughly delight- 
ful. The music department also gave attractive 
concerts. 


XVIII 
THE COLLEGE AND THE GREAT WAR 


HE brilliant plans that had been made for 
the progress and improvement of the college 
in its first year in the new buildings, had to 

give way before the claims of World War. By 
September, 1914, entirely abnormal conditions pre- 
vailed in Constantinople. Germany was tightening 
a strangle-hold on Turkey, and the latter was 
rapidly mobilising her troops. 

These troops were invading private property, 
and some American buildings were requisitioned 
for their use. Soldiers entered the grounds of the 
college seeking shelter in a solidly-built stone stable 
with a tile roof that furnished good quarters for 
both men and horses. But they were soon ordered 
to retire by Ambassador Morgenthau, who then 
ordered the roof to be removed to prevent their 
return. It was characteristic of this constructive 
college that this roofless building was soon con- 
verted into a beautiful garden, and became the 
site of many a college pleasure. 

To declare the neutrality of this American prop- 
erty, a forty-foot American flag was made in addi- 
tion to the regular flag usued by the college, ready 


230 


THE COLLEGE AND THE WAR 231 


to be displayed at any moment as a defense against 
belligerent intrusion, and was spread on the ground 
for airplanes to see. 

The political changes in Constantinople, where 
Germany was all-powerful, necessitated the keenest 
and most constant care in the administration of 
the college. Foreign post-offices were closed, and 
the age-old “ capitulations,”’ protecting foreign 
residents were abrogated. The Ottoman Gov- 
ernment had long before granted the following 
capitulations: 

Liberty of residence; inviolability of domicile; 
freedom of travel by land or sea; freedom of com- 
merce; freedom of religion; immunity from local 
jurisdiction save under certain safeguards; exclu- 
sive exter-territorial jurisdiction over foreigners of 
the same nationality; competence of the forum of 
the defendant in cases in which two foreigners 
were concerned. 

These had been a great protection to American 
workers and work in Turkey, but they were one 
and all abolished in September, 1914. 

The following rules were passed by the govern- 
ment in regard to the foreign schools in the Turk- 
ish Empire: 1. The Turkish language to be taken 
by all students; 2. The courses of study to be under 
the control of the Minister of Public Instruction; 
3. No required attendance at religious exercises; 
4. The government to decide as to the amount of 
property a school shall possess. 


232 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


The American ambassador, through his influence 
with the Ottoman Government, especially with 
Talaat Pasha, Minister of the Interior, was a great 
protection to the college, even obtaining permission 
for the French and English members of the faculty, 
at that time of enemy nations, to retain their posi- 
tions. Mr. Morgenthau had also many an inter- 
view with Enver Pasha, Minister of War, during 
which the latter expressed his sense of the good 
that the college had always done to the community 
and promised that nothing should happen to it 
during the war. Again and again, in the dark- 
est hours, this promise comforted the harassed 
President. 

In August, 1914, Dr. Patrick was in the Alps, 
gaining refreshment for her coming year’s work. 
She wrote from Geneva as follows: 


“In the calm of Chamounix and a beautiful 
morning I went for a mountain climb. Returning 
at five o’clock, I found the town in an uproar. 
News of the French mobilisation came at four P. M. 
and all strangers had to leave the city on the 
evening trains, including foreign servants and 
tradesmen. A French lady helped me pack and, 
as there were no porters, she helped me to carry my 
luggage to the station. The trip to Geneva re- 
quired change of trains, and in my desperate effort 
to move my luggage with my own hands, I was 
repeatedly pushed back from the entrance to the 
train by the crowds, which were far less kindly 


THE COLLEGE AND THE WAR 233 


than Turkish crowds would have been. In the 
train the only available seat was in the corridor on 
my luggage. Arriving at Geneva at one A. M., we 
found uncertainty everywhere except in demon- 
strations of war.” 


At Geneva, President Patrick was joined by two 
members of the college staff. Counting their 
money for travel, they found the collective amount 
to be $125.00 in gold, for their notes could not be 
cashed. Forty-one dollars apiece was very meagre 
for a long journey with advanced prices. This 
situation was aggravated by a detention of several 
days at Geneva, but was fortunately relieved by 
the kind offer of a gentleman to supply ladies who 
had no funds. The journey was made across Italy 
and Greece to Constantinople. The train accom- 
modations were dreadful and the steamer was 
alive with huge cockroaches, while the last lap 
of the voyage, from Athens on, Dr. Patrick spent 
on deck with one blanket and a pillow. But she 
got there. 

President Patrick’s annual Report makes light 
of the disappointments of this year that had prom- 
ised somuch. She writes simply, with appreciation 
of the fact that the college could function at all as 
follows: 


“In spite of the numerous wars of the past few 
years, the number of students in Constantinople 
College had, previously to the year 1914-1915, con- 


234 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


stantly increased. Conditions, however, in the 
autumn of 1914 were of far more serious import 
than anything previously known. Banks tem- 
porarily suspended payment, moratoriums were 
announced in many places, and bread lines were a 
feature of scenes in the streets. All travel was 
necessarily slow and impeded in many different 
ways, but even under these conditions an unex- 
pectedly large number of students came from Bul- 
garia and other places, and the numbers on the 
morning of opening were thirty-five in the college 
and about the same number in the preparatory de- 
partment. These numbers increased rapidly until 
we had, at the end of the year, a student body of 
two hundred and thirty-six. This was less than 
was expected, but remarkable under the circum- 
stances. Quite a large number were from abroad, 
including young women who had overcome great 
difficulties to reach the city, one even coming from 
Southern Russia. The senior class numbered nine- 
teen, seven of whom were Bulgarians, two Turks, 
two Greeks, one Albanian, one American and six 
Armenians. We had expected a Servian student, 
who had completed her course with honours all but 
the last year, but under existing war conditions she 
was unable to come. A notable feature of the stu- 
dent body was the presence of eleven Moham- 
medans supported by the Ottoman Government, 
who are studying under contract to teach five years 
in Turkish schools.” 

If the students were few in September, 1914, 
the teachers were fewer, only three besides Presi- 


THE COLLEGE AND THE WAR 235 


dent Patrick having reached Arnautkeuy. But, 
adopting the characteristic resolve—‘‘ We will do 
the best we can,” they undertook to run the college 
on the hill and the preparatory school on the 
waterside. The rest of the faculty were moving 
heaven and earth to reach Constantinople. Those 
who had spent the summer in Europe travelled, 
some in freight trains, where a journey of five 
hours normally required twenty-four hours, some 
in carts, and in whatever means of transportation 
they could commandeer. 

Other members of the faculty were in America, 
including Dr. and Mrs. Murray. In the face of 
danger the trustees dared not urge the teachers to 
return to Constantinople, and, of course, some 
newly-engaged teachers gave up the idea. But the 
old ones were so anxious to return that they begged 
the trustees to send them, offering to assume all 
responsibility. To this plea the trustees responded, 
“The ship will sail; these valiant members of the 
faculty wish to go. Here are the passports, the 
tickets and money for the journey, go with our 
blessing.” Dr. and Mrs. Murray, accompanied by 
three ladies, sailed for the East. 

In Arnautkeuy the interesting question each 
morning was, “ Who of the faculty will come to- 
day?” Dr. Murray’s party arrived late in Sep- 
tember and Dean Wallace, with three teachers, 
came in October. Other vacancies in the faculty 
were filled by taking European residents of Con- 


236 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


stantinople who could not leave the country 
easily and were glad to be protected within the 
college. 

In November a curious embarrassment was 
placed upon the colleges, in the proposal to forbid 
the use of the English language in correspondence, 
and allow only Turkish, Arabic, French and Ger- 
man to be used in letters, which would form a 
serious barrier to correspondence with the trustees, 
and isolate the college. As, however, the serious 
restrictions that had been proposed were not exe- 
cuted, and Dr. Patrick felt that the Turkish Gov- 
ernment, when not under German influence, was 
really friendly, she was very thankful. In Decem- 
ber she wrote as follows: 


“The quiet and peace in which Constantinople 
College has pursued its way during the extremely 
difficult circumstances of the present situation are 
due, not only to the favour of the Turkish Gov- 
ernment, but also largely to the wisdom and power 
of our present ambassador, Henry Morgenthau. 
Both the Ambassador and Mrs. Morgenthau have 
befriended many of those who have been obliged 
to leave the country in haste or who have remained 
in trouble.” 


In his turn, the ambassador expressed his appre- 
ciation of Dr. Patrick by saying that he had been 
strengthened in his difficult task of promoting 


THE COLLEGE AND THE WAR 237 


peaceful living among the many nationalities of the 
Ottoman Empire by the harmony which President 
Patrick and her associates maintained among the 
various races and nations represented in the 
college. 

The work of the college went on through this 
year as in ordinary years as much as was possible, 
but it was a dull year. A few quotations from the 
President’s Report gives an idea of it: 


“The anxiety caused by the extensive mobilisa- 
tion began in August, and the requisitioning of 
buildings and materials needed by the government 
continued through the autumn months. Under 
these circumstances all holders of property were 
anxious. In October almost every foot of space 
in Arnautkeuy was occupied by soldiers; they filled 
empty houses, every street was full of them, and 
they inquired at college if we had any room for 
men or horses.” 


Dr. Patrick says nothing of this particular dan- 
ger, but any girls’ school in Turkey that had once 
been occupied by soldiers would be given a wide 
berth by parents, and this menace of occupation 
either in term time or in the summer vacation was 
one that Dr. Patrick and Dr. Peet struggled suc- 
cessfully to avert. It was on this account that Dr. 
Patrick and Dr. and Mrs. Peet remained on the 
college grounds all the first summer of the war, and 


238 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


Ambassador and Mrs. Morgenthau very kindly 
took up their residence there the second summer. 
Dr. Patrick’s Report continues: | 


“In Scutari the college property, during the 
year, was occupied from time to time by men and 
horses. When war was declared, in November, 
these difficulties were relieved somewhat, as many 
soldiers left for the front. Within a few days after 
the declaration of war Arnautkeuy was partly free 
from soldiers. Since that time there has been 
somewhat less danger of property’s being requisi- 
tioned. We cannot be thankful enough that the 
college was removed from Scutari to Arnautkeuy 
during the preceding year, as, while war lasts, there 
will be no freedom in moving personal effects and 
no possibility of furniture or supplies coming from 
abroad or even of receiving them through the 
Custom House. Therefore, it is a cause of great 
gratitude that the college was established in new 
and commodious quarters adequately furnished for 
college use, before this crisis occurred in the affairs 
of the European nations. 

“‘ There have been frequent rumours that famine 
was likely to follow the closing of the Dardanelles 
on account of the difficulty of receiving supplies 
from other countries. During the greater part of 
the year, however, food was comparatively abun- 
dant, although prices constantly increased. ‘The 
college was able to procure necessary fuel for 
heating and lighting at more advanced prices 
than usual.” 


THE COLLEGE AND THE WAR 239 


Constantinople without its European colonies 
and its stream of tourists, is like an isolated city 
cut off from the rest of the world. Colleges here 
have usually enjoyed great advantages of lectures 
and addresses from distinguished visitors, and 
social occasions graced by friends of the British 
and other foreign colonies. A few lectures were 
given this year, supplied wholly by local talent. 

The first Charter Day in the new buildings was 
necessarily a sad one. Not only had war saddened 
all of the country, but the college was called on to 
mourn the loss of the president of its Board of 
Trustees, Miss Grace Hoadley Dodge. She had 
died in the previous December, and this day of 
historical significance to the college was given over 
to memorial exercises for her. President Patrick 
made the memorial address, in which she paid 
heartfelt tribute to Miss Dodge for the power and 
inspiration which she had given to the college life. 
Dr. Patrick gave in detail the history of Miss 
Dodge’s connection with the college, and spoke 
with deep appreciation of all the different forms of 
help received from her; her organising ability in 
systematising the affairs of the college, her gener- 
ous financial support, her large ideals and pur- 
poses, and most of all her loyal sympathetic friend- 
ship for all connected with this institution. She 
also spoke of Miss Dodge as a strong personality, 
able in character and power of leadership, and 
referred briefly to some of the many forms of 


240 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


philanthropy in which she was interested, and in» 
which she was a leading force. The Board of 
Trustees elected Hon. Charles R. Crane as presi- 
dent in Miss Dodge’s place. 

Commencement Day, June 11, 1915, went off 
cheerfully. Nineteen students were graduated, but 
of these the seven Bulgarian students had been 
hastily recalled to Bulgaria in May. It seemed at 
the time as if Bulgaria were about to enter the war 
on the side of the Entente allies, and it seemed 
unsafe to leave these Bulgarian students in an 
enemy-country. So their Minister demanded their 
return to Bulgaria, and hasty and informal but 
very pleasant graduation exercises were improvised 
for them. Now their classmates, six Armenians, 
two Turks, two Greeks, one Albanian and one 
American, graduated without them. 

There were some significant changes from the 
preceding year: instead of Turkish officials on the 
platform, delighting to honour this American Col- 
lege and its president, the Chief of Police sat be- 
side the American Consul-General and watched to 
see that no Moslem woman appeared unveiled at 
the exercises. Having received orders from Enver 
Pasha, Dr. Patrick had told the Turkish girls to 
put on their charshafs and veils. They were furi- 
ous, but all obeyed but one, who stole into her class 
dressed in white. In writing to America about this, 
President Patrick said: ‘“‘ Turkish women are cer- 
tainly coming forward now. It is, in fact, impos- 


THE COLLEGE AND THE WAR 241 


sible to hold them back. The government is very 
much annoyed at the way that they are pushing 
forward and blames the college somewhat.” But 
the Chief of Police saw nothing to reprehend. The 
exercises were happily concluded by the conferring 
of the degree of Doctor of Laws on Ambassador 
Morgenthau, in gratitude for his devoted care of 
the college. 

Despite the most careful management and econ- 
omy, this year left the college with a serious deficit, 
but it was met by prompt generosity on the part of 
individual trustees and some other friends. So 
ended the first year of the World War in Constan- 
tinople College. In the words of its President, ‘‘ So 
long as the war continues, we can only live from 
day to day.” 


XIX 
A SERIOUS COLLEGE CRISIS 


HE second year of the World War changed 
conditions in the college very little. The 
faculty was smaller owing to the impossi- 

bility of travel across Europe, and the student body 
was further affected, as few girls could come from 
a distance, those from Bulgaria, now an ally of 
Turkey, being an exception. Moreover, financial 
stringency kept many students away, although a 
most generous policy as to scholarships gave help 
to eighty-four students. Prices continued to soar, 
and food and fuel became increasingly difficult 
to obtain. 

In September, 1916, the newly appointed am- 
bassador, Abram S. Elkus, with six new teachers, 
reached Constantinople. As serious embarrass- 
ment resulted from the restraint and censoring of 
correspondence with the United States, it finally 
seemed best for Dr. Patrick to go to America and 
see the trustees in person. She left the administra- 
tion of the college in the hands of Dean Louise B. 
Wallace, who had come to the college as professor 
of biology in 1911. She was an able, poised, calm 


242 


A SERIOUS COLLEGE CRISIS 243 


woman, who had done successful teaching in 
Mount Holyoke College. She understood Presi- 
dent Patrick’s ideas thoroughly, and was a most 
suitable person to take charge of the college in the 
absence of its President. | 

Having opened the college in the autumn, Presi- 
dent Patrick left Constantinople early in October, 
1916, by the Berlin and Constantinople railroad 
under German control. While her papers often 
required examination, they proved to be adequate 
for all the exigencies of the journey. She met with 
nothing but courtesy until, on the northern frontier 
of Germany, on the day of her departure for 
Copenhagen, she was stripped and thoroughly ex- 
amined to make sure that she carried out no Ger- 
man secrets. She sailed on a Scandinavian steamer 
for New York. In the United States, Dr. Patrick 
was subjected to another kind of strain, that of 
meeting and being entertained by friends, of speak- 
ing constantly at meetings, of making and pushing 
plans for the college, to put it on a sound finan- 
cial basis. 

In the meantime, Acting-President Wallace had 
to face an alarming situation. 

The United States of America declared a state 
of war to exist between herself and Germany, April 
4, 1917. As Turkey was an ally of Germany, this 
act, while it did not put the United States and 
Turkey into a state of war, nevertheless seriously 
affected the diplomatic relations of the two coun- 


244 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


tries, which Turkey ruptured on April 1, 1917. 
Notwithstanding this action, however, Talaat 
Pasha, in a cabinet meeting, is reported to have 
said that as Turkey would need America after the 
war, it would be better to treat her carefully. Not 
so Germany, and the German Empire had such 
complete control over Turkish affairs, using Tur- 
key as a cat’spaw, that an avalanche of destruction 
fell upon American work in the Ottoman Empire, 
closing institutions, deporting teachers and flood- 
ing the country with distress. 

Under these disquieting conditions, and shortly 
before his return to the United States, Ambassador 
Elkus, thinking the protection of a girls’ college 
too onerous, summoned to his office Dean Wallace, 
Dr. Gates, president of Robert College, also in 
Constantinople, and Dr. Peet, and directed Dr. 
Wallace to close the American College for Girls 
and send its American teachers to the United 
States, on the ground that its faculty and students 
were women. President Gates approved his idea, 
although he said that as his students were men, he 
would run the risk of keeping Robert College open. 

Acting-President Wallace felt very keenly her 
responsibility to the absent President, and without 
hesitation told Ambassador Elkus that she would 
not close the college, nor would the American 
faculty return to America. 

Finally an edict was passed, apparently by the 
government, that the college must be closed and 


A SERIOUS COLLEGE CRISIS 245 


the buildings requisitioned. Soldiers, coming up 
for that purpose, planted themselves before the 
gate of the preparatory department. Principal 
Murray, who had steadily supported Dr. Wal- 
lace in this difficulty, fearing that he might have 
to leave the building, determined not to go from 
the vicinity of the college, but take a room in 
the neighbourhood and watch his opportunity to 
re-enter the buildings. Meantime the soldiery 
before the gate were caught in a heavy rain. Dr. 
Murray, taking pity on their plight, sent out chairs 
to them to relieve their discomfort, and they grate- 
fully accepted this courtesy from the man they had 
come to dispossess. 

Inside the college the hours were tragic, with 
apparent destruction at their gates; nevertheless 
not a class was omitted, and Dr. Wallace was to 
be seen everywhere with a smiling face. In the 
morning, one of those inexplicable Oriental changes 
took place; without the people of the college know- 
ing anything about it, the soldiers quietly went 
away. 

That same day one of the small but loyal faculty 
took a symbolic means of asserting her confidence. 
Dr. Wallace saw her dragging along a great branch 
of wistaria, apparently to plant it. Some one 
asked her if this were her funeral tribute to the 
college. 

“Oh, no,’ she replied cheerily, “it is my 
prophecy of success to the college. I thought that 


246 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


while there is so much pulling down, I wanted to 
be building up.” 

Everyone who knows life in Turkey and other 
Mohammedan lands knows that the strongest argu- 
ment for anything is ‘‘ Adet,” or “custom.” “It 
is our custom,” or as we would say, “‘ We’ve always 
done it that way,” is an unanswerable reply to any 
question of continuance. The American College 
for Girls had long been an accepted institution, it 
might reasonably continue to be such for centu- 
ries; but, once break the continuity and it would 
take nothing short of a miracle to re-establish the 
institution. To have followed Ambassador Elkus’ 
suggestion would have been to close this beneficent 
college forever. For days, Dr. Wallace was be- 
sieged by daily messages from the Embassy to the 
effect—‘‘ Do you realise what you are doing? ” 
But she never wavered for a moment in her de- 
termination to save the college, at whatever cost 
to herself. 

It almost seems as if the Americans in Turkey 
would be forced to accept the fact that the women 
of the American College for Girls would show in 
any emergency as much courage and resourceful- 
ness and calm as any group of men. This had been 
proved many times, two outstanding proofs being 
during the counter-revolution under the adminis- 
tration of Acting-President Vivian, and in 1917 
under the administration of Acting-President Wal- 
lace. That President Patrick had a poise and 


A SERIOUS COLLEGE CRISIS 24:7 


bravery that many a man might envy, had long 
been proved. 

There were months of hideous strain. Dr. Wal- 
lace wrote to a friend: “I often ran to my room, 
where, on my bureau, was pinned, ‘ Not by might, 
nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord,’ 
beseeching God to help me in my defense of the 
college; thus strengthened, I resumed my watching 
and devising.” 

During all those months the great need was to 
keep peace and prevent a panic in the college. 
There was no talking of the events of the war 
except in whispers, and no interest shown in victo- 
ries for either side. Every effort was made to 
preserve an atmosphere of impartial love around 
these daughters of warring nations. Spies watched 
the college continuously. For months Dr. Wallace 
maintained a secret telephone communication with 
Dr. Murray, in the school below, who was watching 
the Bosphorus entrances for possible invasion. 
Rumours were rife that the college was going to 
be closed, and the girls became nervous. One day 
a Turkish girl, strongly suspected of being a spy, 
came to Dr. Wallace’s room and carefully eyed 
everything. At length she said: “I don’t see any 
disturbance of your possessions.” Dr. Wallace met 
her with the quiet smile of the bank president who 
is guarding against a run on the bank, and replied, 
“Why should my room be disturbed? The college 
is going on just as usual.” 


248 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


Distress in the American colony was augmented 
by the inadequate food-supply and the giving out 
of fuel. In the city people were dying of hardship 
and starvation, and only the most careful manage- 
ment provided anywhere near enough food for the 
college. Prices made a careful calculation very 
necessary, and in the spring of 1916, two hundred 
and forty-four persons were supplied daily with 
food at thirty-nine and a half cents each. That 
spring President Patrick wrote, “A public an- 
nouncement has been made that soon there will be 
no more meat. Fortunately, some spring vege- 
tables are now found in the market. We have a 
flock of sheep so well accustomed to college life 
that they seem almost ready for the classroom, but 
in this emergency they must be sacrificed for food.” 

Coal at fifty dollars a ton made the use of the 
power-house a luxury. For a time there was no 
light, little hot or cold water in the bath-rooms or 
kitchen, no clocks, no bells, no telephones and no 
use of the elevator in Gould Hall. The power- 
house was used only two evenings a week, mostly 
for pumping water into the reservoir. In the 
cutting-off of electricity, it was not possible to turn 
to candles or petroleum to any extent, so for five 
evenings a week early retiring became the fashion, 
unless one preferred to sit about in the marble hall 
in the light of tiny wicks floating in dishes of 
olive oil. 

The food got to such a miserable condition, that 


A SERIOUS COLLEGE CRISIS 249 


all of the Americans in Constantinople developed 
slight figures and hungry-looking, hollow cheeks. 
Some of the Turks and Bulgarians paid in food 
instead of money, but one could not always enjoy 
the food. One man offered butter that smelled to 
heaven, another said, “‘ We can supply nuts and 
macaroni, but they will be alive with vermin.” 
Indeed, wormy food was so common that Dr. Wal- 
lace had to call on her knowledge of biology and 
assure the faculty that “‘ the protoplasm of worms 
is much more delicate than that of lamb,”’ but even 
this consolation failed to make worms an at- 
tractive diet. 

In 1917, another calamity struck Constanti- 
nople; the water supply was cut off from the city. 
In this emergency, the college was reduced to the 
use of wells and cisterns on the premises. This 
source was so inadequate that in the dormitory, 
Russell Sage Hall, where one hundred and fifty 
students lived, all the water available was a few 
pailsful brought in by hand, which permitted of 
only one hour a day for cleansing toilets, with 
distressing odours resulting. The scanty water- 
supply caused much small-pox and cholera in the 
city, and two of the American teachers fell ill of 
typhoid fever. 

Throughout all this period of distress, the faith- 
ful faculty and students of Constantinople College 
showed a marvelously high quiet endurance and an 
ability to continue their daily studies. 


250 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


When America went into the war, Dr. Patrick 
knowing something of the menace to the college 
and suspecting more, was miserably unhappy, and 
restlessly anxious to return to Constantinople. In 
her life of heroic service it was a new and hateful 
thing to be safe in America while her substitute 
was in the midst of danger in Turkey. She begged 
the trustees to let her return to her post on the 
Bosphorus. In vain did they say, ‘‘ Quite impos- 
sible to cross Europe ”’; in her vocabulary the word 
‘“‘impossible ” had long ago been crossed out. 
Miss Borden supported her earnest petitions, and 
at length the trustees said, ‘‘Go ahead, and may 
God protect and guide you.” 

She was furnished with a special passport from 
Washington commending her to the governments of 
the five countries through which she must pass, but 
no one could provide against the emergencies that 
she would encounter; the success of the journey 
would depend on her individual heroism, initiative 
and resource. She sailed on the Rochambeau, on 
which the passengers were assigned to lifeboats in 
case of need, but reached France safely. In Paris 
it took a week of constant diplomatic activity to 
provide her with adequate credentials to continue 
her journey. From there she went to Geneva. 
Here she met one or two teachers who were ready 
to return to Constantinople with her. But this 
was really impossible. What one brave woman, 
going on a matter of great urgency, might accom- 


A SERIOUS COLLEGE CRISIS 251 


plish a group could not meet successfully. The 
disappointed teachers went back to Paris and 
undertook war-work, and their President started 
alone on her dangerous journey. 

Here we can best follow Dr. Patrick as given in 
the President’s Report for 1918-1919, the first that 
she had been able to publish since 1916. We begin 
the quotation after her departure from Paris armed 
with papers as far as Switzerland: 


“Talaat Pasha, at that time Grand Vizir of 
Turkey, sent a special message to Fuad Selim Bey, 
the Turkish minister in Berne, ordering him to help 
Miss Patrick and to secure the papers necessary 
for her to pass through Austria. On arriving in 
Berne, she reported immediately to the Turkish 
Legation and was received with great courtesy. 
Within three days Fuad Selim Bey had secured 
the necessary permission from Constantinople for 
the further journey and the assurance that she 
would soon obtain the Austrian permission. This, 
however, was not the case, and seven weeks passed 
before the Austrian papers were finally obtained. 
During these weeks of anxiety the possibility of all 
further progress seemed a chimera. 

“During this period the Bulgarian government 
interested itself in the matter, as several high of- 
ficials had had their daughters educated in Con- 
stantinople College. At that time, Count Czernin 
was Prime Minister in Austria and his brother 
was Minister in the Austrian Legation in Sofia. 
Finally, at the request of Premier Radislavoff, 


252 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


Count Czernin, in Sofia, sent a personal letter to 
Count Czernin, the Prime Minister of Austria, ask- 
ing him to secure the necessary permission, so that 
early in November the Austrian Legation in Berne 
sent word to Fuad Selim Bey that the permission 
was secured. His Excellency immediately sent a 
personal message to the hotel to inform the presi- 
dent that the way was open. And then came the 
long, difficult journey through Austria. 


“‘ Crossing the line from Switzerland to Austria 
seemed like taking a leap into the unknown, but 
the further journey, although difficult, was very 
interesting. No trains at that time were heated, 
in Europe, except during certain hours of the day, 
and express trains were very scarce. Classes were 
not separated in the compartments, but all trains 
were filled with motley crowds of travellers of 
different classes. 


“We reached Vienna with difficulty on a rainy 
night. ‘There were no carriages to be found and 
all the hotels were badly crowded. These diffi- 
culties were, however, finally overcome, and then 
began the struggle for permission to leave Vienna 
by the Balkan Express. As relations were broken 
between Austria and the United States, no help 
was possible from American sources. An appeal 
was made to the Turkish Embassy. The Turkish 
Minister was very cordial and said he would be 
only too much pleased to help in any way that was 
necessary. The Bulgarian Minister at Vienna had 
also been Minister in Constantinople and was 
familiar with the circumstances. As I entered the 


A SERIOUS COLLEGE CRISIS 253 


Bulgarian Legation, the first secretary stepped for- 
ward with great cordiality and said, ‘ My sister 
was a graduate of Constantinople College, and if 
you leave your papers to me, I will see that you 
have them within one week.’ The task he under- 
took was, however, a very difficult one. The Aus- 
trian officials objected to signing any papers allow- 
ing an American to go to Constantinople, but it was 
difficult to refuse because of the Turkish and Bul- 
garian protection. One Austrian official asked sus- 
piciously, ‘How did you get this Turkish and 
Bulgarian protection?’ At the hotel there was a 
porter skilled in overcoming official difficulties; he 
also worked at this problem day after day, and 
finally there came a time when the papers were 
secured, but with an incriminating statement writ- 
ten across the outside, ‘ She comes from the outside 
enemies’ country.’ 

‘“‘ Entering the Balkan express was not an easy 
thing, and many other forms of red tape were en- 
countered, but at last it was accomplished and the 
journey from Vienna to Constantinople was begun 
in an express train filled with German officers. 
This journey was uneventful except in passing 
through Sofia, where many friends and alumnez of 
Constantinople College were waiting for the train. 

After leaving Sofia there was a nervous 
moment when the train crossed the Turkish fron- 
tier, but that, too, passed, and in due time the 
Balkan express from Vienna entered triumphantly 
the railway station of Stamboul.” 


The fact that any American in the midst of war 


254 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


could pass through three enemy-countries, because 
she had the protection of two of them is a very 
striking proof of the love that she had won in her 
lifetime in Turkey. It is probably true that no 
other American in the world could have made that 
journey. For Turkey and Bulgaria knew that her 
arrival in Constantinople could not mean anything 
but good to the city, and they regarded her with 
justice as a great and beneficent international 
figure. 

In Berne, while waiting for permission to take 
the Orient express, her suspense was lightened by 
a letter from Professor Dodd, declaring that the 
college thermometer had gone up one hundred de- 
grees on the receipt of the tidings that Dr. Patrick 
was on her way to Constantinople. Suddenly the 
way was opened through Vienna, and Dr. Patrick 
journeyed through three enemy countries to Tur- 
key. The joy of the faculty and students was 
unbounded, and the relief of faithful Dean Wallace 
could not be expressed. With Oriental enthusiasm, 
the girls erected an arch of welcome, dropped 
flowers and the big American flag on her progress, 
and set up such a shout of welcome, in which even 
the live stock of the place joined, as had seldom 
been heard in those academic precincts. 

For the last months of the War, we must turn 
again to President Patrick’s account: 


“The academic year has been historic,” she 


A SERIOUS COLLEGE CRISIS 255 


writes. ‘‘ We have been stirred and thrilled from 
day to day by the stupendous events that were 
changing the history of the world. College opened, 
however, in September, 1918, with the same dreary 
atmosphere as that in which we have been living 
during the four years of the war, without any 
expectation of a change. Classes were running 
smoothly under the care of a depleted but coura- 
geous faculty, but without hope of a sudden re- 
lease, when, almost unheralded, came the news of 
the probable surrender of Bulgaria, which very 
soon was an accomplished fact. Everyone in the 
city was on the qui vive as a gleam of hope of bet- 
ter days appeared on the horizon. Then followed 
the negotiations between the Entente and Turkey 
with couriers going back and forth to Smyrna; 
couriers disappearing no one knew where, to the 
Dardanelles or Smyrna or elsewhere. The day at 
last came when the Armistice was signed. A new 
cabinet was formed for the purpose of signing the 
Armistice and after many discussions and much 
delay, a meeting of Parliament was called to en- 
dorse the signing of the Armistice by the Turkish 
government. Some of the faculty of Constanti- 
nople College attended this meeting through the 
courtesy of the head of our Armenian department, 
who was also a deputy in the Parliament. The 
speaker who presided was Halil Bey, one of the 
war-leaders. Among the deputies sat Talaat 
Pasha, wearing an expression of absolute indiffer- 
ence. Many of the four hundred deputies present 
were from Arabia, Mesopotamia, Palestine and 


256 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


other parts of Turkey which had for some time 
been in possession of the enemy and occupied by 
their forces. Among the deputies were many 
earnest patriots, many of them well-known to the 
college.”’ 

The Armistice brought about the rejoicing that 
prevailed everywhere at the ending of the War. 
To the college it closed a state of tension and dis- 
tress that had been very hard to bear. In place of 
the German and Austrian flags in the streets, Con- 
stantinople was now decorated with the flags of the 
Entente Allies and the United States of America. 
The long stagnation of the War was ended and the 
Straits were gay with shipping. The sensation of 
coming peace brought profound relief, smoothing 
out the lines on many an anxious face, and ending 
the silent repression of years. But the Turkish 
girls did not share this relief, for their country, 
dragged into Germany’s quarrel, was suffering 
from the German defeat, and sadness deepened 
in their hearts. The Turkish grief at this time is 
well reflected in the only English novel by Halideh 
Hanum, called The Shirt of Flame. 


The immediate relief that was looked for in the 
city did not at once appear. The Germans had 
been regularly supplying carloads of coal for the 
supply of water and electricity and for the Bos- 
phorus steamers and the tramway-traffic in the 
city. Many of those things had been carried on 
also by efficient German mechanics, and the sudden 


A SERIOUS COLLEGE CRISIS 257 


change of authority was followed by the disturb- 
ance of comfort in public life. The electricity was 
cut off from time to time; the water supply fre- 
quently gave out for weeks together, and the food 
supply of the city, which was extremely low, did 
not immediately increase. Many of. the steamers 
on the Bosphorus were cut off and the tramways 
were entirely stopped. All these things happened 
during the short days of the late autumn and 
early winter. 

Students who lived at a distance from the col- 
lege were obliged to rise at four o’clock in the 
morning and walk long distances to attend their 
classes. Some of them walked five or six miles 
morning and evening. The lack of food and stop- 
page of water in the city brought on serious epi- 
demics, so that in some cases all the members of 
poor families died. During that difficult period 
Constantinople College lost only two students 
by death. 

Poverty in the city became so intense that, 
throughout the suburbs, one would see pale, 
emaciated features, and limbs scarcely covered 
by rags, while a patch which was whole was a 
bonanza, and a large, strong patch redeemed 
some of the costumes from squalour. Then, little 
by little, the change for the better began. Coal 
was brought from the mines in larger quantities, 
and some of the food from the British canteen 
leaked into the market. The British ships began 


258 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


to employ more men, paying them good money 
and food rations. 

The crowning relief came, however, with the 
arrival of Mr. Howard Heinz and the American 
flour. The city bread was still very scarce and 
difficult to obtain. It contained, moreover, any 
object that was near at hand, and was apparently 
mixed with everything except flour, so that it was 
not only useless as to nutriment, but actually in- 
jurious to health. Mr. Heinz brought with him a 
large amount of American flour, in fact a sufficient 
amount to break the market, as many people had 
been growing rich through the existing high prices 
for all kinds of foodstuffs. Suddenly, one morning 
in February, the city was flooded with loaves of 
white bread which were sold at a comparatively 
low price to all nations alike. An old Turkish 
woman was seen to kiss one of these loaves of 
bread and to touch it with both of her streaming 
eyes, while she called down blessings on the 
Americans. In distant parts of the city white 
bread in abundance was almost immediately seen 
on every street corner. Constantinople could not 
have been called exactly a starving city at any time 
during the war, as it was always possible to obtain 
food if one were able to pay the price; but prices 
were far beyond the reach of thousands of people. 
Now, at the close of the academic year, prices were 
lower and the variety of foodstuffs for sale had 
greatly increased. 


A SERIOUS COLLEGE CRISIS 259 


When the Armistice was signed, one of the 
brightest anticipations was the possibility of open 
communication between America and Constanti- 
nople, and the hope of having letters from friends, 
magazines in the reading room and new books in 
the library. It was probably the first time that any 
college was ever obliged to go on without any books 
or communication with the outside world. The 
vision, however, of immediate light from without 
was not fulfilled. Strict censorship was retained 
and communication, although possible, was almost 
as slow as before. Money conditions also were 
phenomenal. 

When one recalls that this college was dependent 
on America or Europe for its scientific appliances, 
its text-books and its faculty, we can see what a 
hardship the isolation of several years was. No 
new teacher came in from outside after 1916, and 
every bit of equipment seemed to wear out. 

During the War, the alumnz of the college 
showed themselves good and efficient citizens. 
Those who had taken medical work were kept very 
busy, and all who knew anything about nursing 
besides many who took special training for the 
emergency did war work whether in Bulgaria or 
Servia or in Constantinople, full as it was of 
wounded soldiers and exhausted refugees. A large 
number of Armenian alumnz@ set up in the Scutari 
buildings, formerly occupied by the college, a small 
orphanage and hospital. Nearly all the alumne 


260 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


in Scutari became members of the Scutari branch 
of the Red Cross and they made a home for young 
girls over fourteen years of age who were taken 
from Turkish homes. These girls, numbering 
about one hundred, were given schooling in the 
mornings and trained in industrial work in the 
afternoons. 

The college itself not only took in a large number 
of impoverished or stranded Orientals, but also 
worked closely with the Red Cross and the Near 
East Relief Committees to relieve the sad condi- 
tions in the city. 


XX 


1919 TO 1924 


severely exhausted by 1919. It needed 

teachers, supplies, money, and in order to 
have a normally paying student body, it needed, 
above all, peace. But that was the last thing it 
could have. In a letter to friends at home, Dr. 
Patrick wrote: “It is nearly nine years since we 
entered our buildings in Arnautkeuy. Since that 
time there has never been one normal college year 
when students were free to come to us from all 
over the Near East, and when business permitted 
the payment of ordinary fees.” 

I am not sure that President Patrick has oni 


pe STANTINOPLE Woman’s College was 


known one “ normal year ”’ in all the half century 
of her service. Fire, quarantine, wars, massacre, - 
all beat around that college, yet with thousands 
falling at its right hand, destruction has not come 
nigh it. Mobs have surged up its hill, battles 
have been witnessed from its roof, refugees have 
crowded its hospitable portals, but it has pursued 
its even, beneficent way, an oasis of peace in the 
Near East. 

Immediately after the World War, the city of 


261 


262 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


Constantinople was practically ruled by the Allies. 
The whole social life of the college changed. Visi- 
tors once more brightened the college days, officers 
of the French and British troops, travellers, naval 
officers, and finally the American Embassy, or 
rather the secretaries of the High Commissioner, 
Admiral Mark L. Bristol, who still represents the 
United States at the Porte. The arrival of the 
American Relief Commission for the Near East 
also added many friends to the American circle. 
This year was normal as far as social life, with 
its lectures, concerts and entertainments was 
concerned. 

There was one noticeable change in the per- 
sonnel of the students after the War, in the coming 
of many Russians. President Patrick, in her an- 
nual Report, wrote of them as follows: 


“‘ Political prophecies for the last fifty years 
have been that Russia would take Constantinople. 
Russia kas taken Constantinople in a certain sense 
quite different from the one formerly implied. The 
best class of people from the Crimea and Southern 
Russia have crowded into Constantinople as refu- 
gees, bringing, in many cases, culture and a high 
sense of honour. These people, who are here in 
thousands, are compelled to earn their daily bread. 
The result is, that there are already Russian 
schools, Russian newspapers, Russian churches, 
Russian signs in many streets, Russian restaurants 
and cheap Russian labour.” 


1919 TO 1924 263 


Many of these refugee-families had children who 
were very anxious for an education, and many of 
them applied to Constantinople Woman’s College 
for admission, some with no funds at all. In re- 
sponse to their strong demand, the trustees, in De- 
cember, 1920, authorised President Patrick to 
admit twenty Russian students free, selecting care- 
fully from the refugees in the city. This aroused 
great gratitude in the Russian community. It was 
also of advantage to the college, for the students 
came excellently prepared from Russian schools 
and universities, and showed also a high degree of 
nobility of character. 

These new students provided some amusing situ- 
ations. For a while after their entrance, as Presi- 
dent Patrick wrote in an article for Our World, 
there seemed to be a princess or a baroness at 
every turn in the corridors of the college, and 
one rather mature Georgian princess, who had 
been accustomed to the homage that was her 
due in her own land, announced to the student 
government officer on duty that she was a prin- 
cess and not obliged to keep rules. ‘‘ We have 
no princesses here,” replied the officer in true 
republican spirit, ‘“‘and everyone must obey the 
rules.” 

The same article also contains the following 
paragraph which relates to a certain general for- 
merly in the Imperial army directly under the 
Czar: 


264 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


“Formerly in a high position and now driven 
from home with his family, he forms a picturesque 
element in the grounds of the college, where it is 
his duty to oversee the night watchmen, so neces- 
sary in any Eastern college. He remembers his 
lost estate with great regret, yet with his wife in 
the musical department of the college, and his 
daughter in the class-rooms, life still holds some 
charm for him. The college campus of seventy- 
four acres furnishes opportunity for work for 
which the Russian refugees are very grateful, and 
it is not an uncommon thing for a Russian prince 
or a Russian count to be glad enough to secure 
work of this kind and afterwards to join the Rus- 
sian choir over which the General presides and 
which furnishes enchanting music for some of the 
college functions.” 


These students mix easily with the others, for 
they are of the same race as the Servians and Bul- 
garians, and can easily understand their languages, 
and their church is the same Orthodox Church to 
which not only the Slavs but also the Greeks 
belong. 

For awhile it seemed as if the new Slavic state, 
Czecho-Slovakia, were going to send students” to 
Constantinople Woman’s College, and much ap- 
preciation of the college was expressed by Czech 
statesmen, but there proved to be too little money 
to pay transportation to Constantinople, even 
though scholarships were offered. 


1919 TO 1924 265 


Another interesting addition to the nationalities 
in the college are Arab girls, who began to come in 
in 1922. The rulers of the new states of Mecca, 
Transjordania and Mesopotamia all expressed an 
interest in the education of women and a desire 
to co-operate with Constantinople Woman’s Col- 
lege as soon as circumstances should permit. 

A list of the twenty nations represented in the’ 
college and preparatory school in 1921-1922 fol- 
lows: Albanian; American; Armenian; Arab; Bul- 
garian; Circassian; Cretan; English; Georgian; 
German; Greek; Hebrew; Italian; Hungarian; 
Kurd; Persian; Roumanian; Russian; Serbian; 
Syrian; Tartar; Turkish. To these have been 
added, in other years, French, Scotch, Czecho- 
Slovak and Austrian. 

Truly an international college. But the majority 
of the students were, as formerly, Armenian, Greek 
and Bulgarian; and lately Turkish, the last-named 
now forming a large proportion of the member- 
ship; and. latest of all came the influx of Russians. 

“There can be no country in the world where 
normal life in pursuit of business and education 
can be so dependent on political conditions as in 
the Near East.” So wrote President Patrick in 
1923, and thus continues: 


“There is also something about the psychology 
of these difficult nations that is sure to bring about 
the culmination of any disturbance that is in mind 


266 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


just at the time when the colleges wish to open. 
This has been the case in all the succession of wars 
in the recent years. The present academic year 
proved no exception to the rule. Enrollment, more- 
over, in an Eastern college is a difficult and deli- 
cate matter, very different from the same function 
in a homogeneous country. For the students who 
come from the different countries in the Near 
East it means permission to travel, passports, rea- 
sonably favourable exchange and quiet political 
conditions.” 


Since the World War, “quiet political condi- 
tions ” had never obtained. At first, Turkey lay 
apparently crushed by the defeat of the German 
allies; the Sultan’s party signed with patience the 
Treaty of Sevres. Then signs of patriotic restless- 
ness under the hard conditions imposed thereby 
and under the occupation of Constantinople by the 
Entente forces, began to be manifested. These 
finally focussed themselves in the actions of a bril- 
liant soldier of fortune, Mustapha Kemal Pasha, 
who gathered the forces of discontent about him 
and started the Nationalist party. This party re- 
tired to Angora, twenty-four hours’ journey from 
Constantinople, and there proceeded to make his- 
tory. The story of the come-back of Turkey is 
familiar to all. How Mustapha Kemal repudiated 
the Treaty of Sevres and negotiated the much more 
favourable Treaty of Lausanne, how his victorious 
army drove the Greeks out of Turkey, and finally 


1919 TO 1924 267 


agreed on the exchange of populations with Greece, 
how the Parliament at Angora deposed the Sultan- 
ate and then the Caliphate, and declared a Turkish 
Republic, and how at length the Allied forces left 
the capital, and the Turks began the reconstruction 
of the country are all matters of recent, well- 
authenticated history. 

This was an experience to arouse great patriotic 

fervour in Turkish breasts, and Halideh Hanum 
' was fired to take an active part in the Nationalist 
movement, speaking and writing and even carrying 
a musket on occasion. She took an important part 
in the councils at Angora, where her husband was 
a deputy. When he was appointed to Constanti- 
nople, she came back to the city, a very notable 
woman, having earned the title of the ‘“ Jeanne 
d’Arc of Turkey.” Her appearance on the plat- 
form of her Alma Mater on several occasions was 
a matter of more than academic interest. At the 
time that Adnan Bey was governor of Constanti- 
nople, the husband of another graduate, Gulistan 
Hanum, was Chief of Police, so the college seemed 
to have many friends in high places. 

Still the year at the college suffered from the 
uncertain conditions. To continue President Pat- 
rick’s Report: 


“Tt was early in September, 1922, that the 
Kemalist army pushed on from Angora. Con- 
stantinople, at this time, was beginning to be 


268 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


crowded with refugees coming from all pare of 
Asia Minor. - | 

“Under these circumstances large numbers of 
the population left the city, and parents in the 
Balkan countries hesitated about sending their 
daughters. 

“‘ Meantime the college had assembled a student 
body numbering four hundred and eight, of sixteen 
different nationalities. 

“The exodus from the city included not only 
those who left on account of fear, but others who 
joined their ranks on the way from Asia Minor to 
some refuge further west. This exodus from the 
city did not decrease for some months and of our 
small body of students we eventually lost one hun- 
dred and one. The morale of the college, however, 
during all this period was excellent. From day to 
day our work went on quietly, although the city 
was full of wild rumours, and the students on re- 
turning from a week-end at home would remark 
that college was quite a different world from the 
one of fear and terror in the city. 

“On November 4, Rafet Pasha was appointed 
Governor of Constantinople under the command 
of the general government of Angora, and fixed his 
headquarters at the Sublime Porte. From that 
time Constantinople has been under Turkish law 
instead of the laws of the Allied Commission, which 
had occupied the city since the Armistice of 1918. 
The city under the reinstated Turkish control was 
soon, however, brought into order and has been 
since that time increasingly orderly. , The police 


1919 TO 1924 269 


immediately took up their duties with devotion and 
there has been no disorder of any kind.” 


Almost simultaneously with the taking-over of 
the control of the city by the Turks, the thrilling’ 
announcement was made that the Angora govern- 
ment had decided to separate Church and State 
and had taken away the temporal power of the 
Caliph. The General National Assembly in 
Angora then appointed Abdul Medjid, son of 
Abdul Aziz, as Caliph, and he was inaugurated at 
the old Seraglio palace on Friday, November 24, 
1922, from which place he went to the Mosque of 
the Conqueror for prayers, and from that time. 
he conducted the Selamlik in different mosques 
beginning with Saint Sofia. The President of the 
college was invited to an audience with His Ma- 
jesty, the Caliph, on May 26th. She was very 
cordially received and during the conference His 
Majesty made the following remark: ‘‘ You have a 
great opportunity in your college in Arnautkeuy 
with your Greek, Armenian and Turkish students 
together assembled to introduce a spirit of love 
and harmony and to eliminate the race prejudice 
that has been so disastrous to the land.” 

The Caliph’s benevolent attitude to the college, 
however pleasing at the time, was of little perma- 
nent value, for he, too, was deposed and exiled 
from Constantinople after a very short rule. 

The financial condition of the three American 


270 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


colleges in the Ottoman Empire—Beirut Univer- 
sity, Robert College and Constantinople Woman’s 
College—was rendered so serious by the war and 
_ post-war events, that it was thought desirable to 
conduct a drive in the United States for enough 
money to pay their immediate indebtedness. Dr. 
Patrick was asked to come to America and help in 
this drive. This she did, in 1922, leaving Dr. Wal- 
lace to act as president again. In America, Dr. 
Patrick made many speeches and addresses, and 
wrote for a good many magazines. In a number of 
her evenings in New York City, she was assisted 
by an Armenian alumna of the college, Marie 
Bashian, who gladly gave her services as a profes- 
sional singer for a scholarship in Constantinople 
Woman’s College to some needy girl. The financial 
problem has always been a serious one, for only 
very generous and hopeful persons have been 
willing to give to colleges in so uncertain a country, 
but somehow the colleges have gone on and grown 
and done a splendid work. This particular drive 
was successful in raising the $1,000,000.00 it set 
out to raise, and Dr. Patrick was able to return to 
her beloved college. 

It was during these five years that the medical 
school was started, and also the domestic science 
department, and the courses in agriculture and in 
commerce. ‘This was rendered very desirable by 
the changed economic conditions in the Near East. 
A half-century ago, all women of the upper classes 


1919 TO 1924 271 


were supported by their men in careful seclusion, 
and were never allowed to work outside of the 
home, and very little there. But with the wars, 
times have changed. So many men were killed or 
crippled, and so many women left dependent on 
themselves that it became necessary for them to 
go into the working world. A definite interest in 
the practical arts in schools and colleges naturally 
followed. As Dr. Patrick wrote while in America: 


“In a city like Constantinople, full of refugees 
driven from their homes, hungry and without work, 
an academic education is not sufficient. One can- 
not see the destitute Russians standing at every 
street corner, the Turkish refugees in the mosques, 
whole families so closely crowded together that 
they are separated only by a quilt hanging between 
them, and Armenians and Greeks in the Near East 
Relief orphanages without the conviction that prac- 
tical education is in great demand. The college, 
therefore, offers two years’ courses in commerce 
and agriculture, home economics and normal train- 
ing, and many of our students prepare themselves 
in that way to earn the money that is often so much 
needed in the family. We can hardly keep the 
girls in our stenography classes until they have 
finished the course, for they feel that they must go 
and earn money, perhaps only twenty-five or thirty 
dollars a month, but that is not to be despised if 
the father is unable to get work. . . . In the 
present poverty of the Near East the women must 
work. One finds in Pera, in Constantinople, a dry- 


272 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


goods establishment carried on by women alone. 
A Turkish graduate of the college is employed by 
the Guaranty Trust Company in a responsible posi- 
tion, and Greek and Armenian women are free to 
go into business on every hand. Should you wan- 
der into a Stamboul shop to buy turkish delight, 
you would probably find even there a Turkish 
woman seated behind the desk as cashier.” 


In 1921-1922, the enrollment in the medical de- 
partment of Constantinople Woman’s College was 
eighteen, and in the training school for nurses, it 
was twenty-four. Nineteen students were enrolled 
in the department of agriculture and twelve in the 
home economics department, twelve in the normal 
training course, and largest of all, seventy in the 
commercial department, taking stenography, type- 
writing and bookkeeping. This, in an Oriental 
college for women, is little less than a revolution, 
but it was brought about by the economic changes 
in the East and by the quickness and sometimes 
foresight of President Patrick in meeting the needs 
of the rapidly emancipating women. One interest- 
ing course offered mostly to graduates of the col- 
lege, was a normal course preparing girls to teach 
in the orphanages of the Near East Relief, in the 
national schools or in the American elementary and 
secondary schools. In many of the openings for 
women, the knowledge of the English language was 
a very valuable asset. In a higher social rank, . 
men in public life, diplomats and officials have 


1919 TO 1924 273 


found a wife who could not only speak English and 
French but also meet guests with ease and grace 
very desirable, and the days when a graduate of a 
college was thought to be therefore unfitted for 
matrimony are well past. The educated wife is 
more and more in demand in Turkey. 

During this period the property of the college 
was rounded out by the purchase of the Musurus 
palace property, which has been rented for the 
preparatory school for ten years, but is now owned 
by the college, making the college campus about 
seventy acres. 

In 1922, Miss Caroline Borden died, leaving to 
the college many beautiful and personal posses- 
sions and the residue of her property for a Presi- 
dent’s house, or if that should have been provided 
before the settlement of the will, for a Borden en- 
dowment fund. Miss Borden was the oldest trus- 
tee of Constantinople College, and very closely 
identified with its history from its beginning as a 
high school. Her death brought great sorrow to 
all the friends of the college, especially to Presi- 
dent Patrick, to whom she had always been a de- 
voted personal friend as well as the staunchest and 
most efficient support in all college matters. 

Despite difficulties, political and economic, to a 
raising of the academic standards of the college, 
there was a steady push upwards during the years 
after the World War. In 1922, the degree of 
master of arts was conferred on two students, the 


274 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


first to take this degree. One of the candidates 
was a Turk who specialised in mathematics and 
physics, and the other was a Jewess whose subjects 
were mathematics and philosophy. ‘They wrote 
theses on “ Determinants,” and ‘‘ The Problem of 
Free Will.” This accomplishment would make the 
‘“‘Disenchanted’” of Pierre Loti, in 1907, more 
discontented than ever, or else have stimulated 
their ambition. 

During her visit to America, in 1922, Dr. Pat- 
rick received the degree of Litt.D. from Columbia 
University. President Butler, in conferring the 
degree, spoke of her as having “‘ done a man’s work 
with a woman’s heart.” 


XXI 
MARY MILLS PATRICK RETIRES 


N the year 1924, to the great regret of the 
trustees and faculty, Dr. Patrick closed her 
work as President of Constantinople Woman’s 

College. Her successor is Miss Kathryn Newell 
Adams, a student of Oberlin, Radcliffe, Columbia 
and Oxford, and formerly dean of Beloit College. 
She entered the faculty of Constantinople Woman’s 
College in 1920. 

President Patrick has been a very remarkable 
executive. The story of the college, as we have 
told it, surely illustrates her courage in crises, he 
unselfish devotion, her power to inspire co-oper- 
ation in others, her delicate skill in diplomacy, and 
her absolute refusal to lose hope, no matter how 
clouded the sky. No man could have held her 
position more strongly; few women could ha 
shown so much tact and intuition. 

She has always been a most inspiring chief. Her 
teachers, so varied in their nationalities, their 
points of view and their acquirements, are united 
in their love for their president. She inspires a 
loyalty to the college that has held many of us 
through long years of absence from Constantinople 


275 


276 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


and made us still think and speak of “ our college.” 
She never seemed to feel that the college was hers 
alone, but it belonged to us teachers, too. She 
implied that our part in the work was indispensable 
and that the college would not be what it is without 
us. She consulted us readily and was always en- 
thusiastic about our plans for our departments or 
for any improvement in conditions. It was a joy 
to take her our outlines for the courses of the year 
and see her delight in them and her sympathetic 
appreciation of progress. In the fullest sense that 
I have ever known in a college executive, she 
shared her work and her credit with her faculty. 
And she found out every way by which we could 
serve the college or the community and used every 
little talent that we possessed, until teaching in any 
other college seemed by contrast dry and limited. 
She is a wonderful friend, appreciative, always 
ready to express gratification, always trying to put 
the friend before herself. She looked at a friend 
with an eye that saw no plainness nor lack. Once 
a plain professor called her attention to a visitor, 
asking if she did not find her beautiful? ‘“‘ Yes,” 
she replied indifferently, then her face lighting up, 
“but I would much rather look at you.” At an- 
other time, she said the only music that gave her 
much pleasure was the performance of a friend. 
Evidently she agreed with that other great Ameri- 
can woman who said, ‘‘ One marvels that a friend 
can ever seem less than beautiful.’”’ Another of 


MARY MILLS PATRICK RETIRES = 277 


her unusual qualities is magnanimity. To forgive 
an injury and then take delight in the happiness 
coming to the one who had injured her was entirely 
natural to her big soul. She always rejoices in the 
success of others with no taint of envy, and listens 
gladly to praise of another. 

For most of the years of her presidency, Dr. Pat- 
rick was also a teacher, at first of psychology and 
philosophy, and later, of philosophy alone—a 
teacher whose scholarship and inspirational qual- 
ity made the students delight in her classes. She 
always kept in the closest sympathetic touch with 
her students, following their careers with interest, 
and welcoming them back to the college whenever 
possible. The severing of her connection wit 
college is a severe blow not only to the present 
faculty and students, but also to all the alumne 
far and wide. Constantinople Woman’s College 
without President Patrick is almost unthinkable. 

Seldom has an institution so expressed a person- 
ality as does Constantinople Woman’s College 
express the personality of President Patrick. She 
has been aided in her great work by a long line of 
able and devoted teachers, and supported by admi- 
rable trustees, but in the last analysis, Mary Mills 
Patrick has been the college, and Constantinople 
Woman’s College is the manifestation of the vision 
and thought of Mary Mills Patrick. 


Hers was the grasp of the possibilities of th On 
situation of the little school, hers was the interna- 











278 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


tional sympathy that has made it “an oasis of 
peace in a desert of discord,” hers the scholarship 
that lifted its standards to first rate college rank, 
hers the courage and endurance that carried it 
through dangers and averted disaster, hers the 
optimism that saw light in the sky when to all 
others it looked like impenetrable night, hers the 
foresight that got ready for the Moslem girls just 
before their emancipation came, hers the compas- 
sion that filled the college with pathetic and penni- 
less refugees, hers the splendid consciousness that 
God and one are a majority, and the trust that 
made officials and politicians ashamed to play her 
false, hers the consciousness that here was a chance 
for a big work and that she would willingly devote 
her life to it. 

As a great educator and organiser, an ardent 
lover of internationalism, and a devoted worker 
for peace among the nations, President Patrick 
ranks with those great colleagues of hers, Daniel 
Bliss and Howard Sweetser Bliss, the first two 
presidents of Beirut University, and Cyrus Hamlin 
and George Washburn, the founder and the organ- 
iser of Robert College. America may well be 
proud of this goodly fellowship of educational 
pioneers, all of whom developed the tree of educa- 
tion from missionary roots, and, while eventually 
freeing it from all missionary restraint, yet never 
lost the sense that the colleges were rooted in the 
love of God and of humanity. 


MARY MILLS PATRICK RETIRES = 279 


To Mary Mills Patrick the greatest thing in the 
world has always been ue oh She took her 
doctorate in philosophy, the history of thought, 
and Greek, one of its finest vehicles; education to 
her has meant the teaching how to think; religion 
is thought in terms of God, and ethics is thinking 
straight. Her feminism has been a sublime confi- 
dence in woman’s power to think, and her cosmo- 
politanism has sprung from her own power of 
thinking the thoughts of people alien to her in race 
and religion. She has recognised no barriers in her 
thinking. A characteristic comment of hers was 
made on an Englishwoman whom she had just met, 
who had a plain, intelligent, heavily wrinkled face. 
“Oh,” she exclaimed enthusiastically, ‘‘ Miss X. 
has such an interesting face, it is all full of the most 
beautiful thought-lines.”’ 

It seems, therefore, entirely natural that her final 
address to that child of her thought, Constantinople 
Woman’s College, as well as her opening remarks 
at Commencement should emphasise the power of 
thought and the fact that life is spiritual. In the 
latter address she said in part: 


‘We hear rumours of wonderful serums that are 
being discovered at the present time, and if in the 
next few years a serum of rejuvenation should be 
found, I should be much pleased to return to the 
college as a young woman of twenty-five and give 
another series of years’ service. Life is spirit, how- 


280 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


ever, and there can be no real separation, for the 
bonds of spirit are not under the laws of time and 
space. We feel the strength of these bonds with 
great force in relation to our alumne—the hun- 
dreds of daughters of our college who are scattered 
throughout the Near East and to whom we are 
bound by the links of eternal friendship. 

“Ts it not true that the people of this world 
naturally divide themselves into two classes—not 
the rich and poor, or even the good and the bad, 
but rather those who can think and those who can- 
not think? It is the aim of this college to train 
people to think, for the power of the individual 
spirit is measured through discipline of the mind 
and the training of the high brain centres. ' 
The power of creative thought gives us the ideals 
which uplift nations, promotes individual well- 
being and the evolution of the higher type of 
humanity.” 


On June 8, Dr. Patrick delivered her last bac- 
calaureate sermon as President of Constantinople 
College. She looked very noble in her doctor’s 
robes, and crowned with the dignity of her fare- 
well to the work of her life. The large audience 
present, all of whom, whether students and alumne 
and faculty, who would immediately miss her 
gracious and inspiring presence, or citizens of Con- 
stantinople who had felt her benign influence less 
directly, were sensible of the great part she had 
taken in the community growth for fifty years. 
We reproduce here her full address, feeling that in 


pId “MM “og LyepY jreusy ‘uojdug “y 381005 ‘swepy ][aMIN 
uAIYyyey ‘[epuAeY sq “4) [e1oue4)-[nsuoy “prwyeg sy Arey oustg "]T yreyy [eswupy 


iINHAANO AHL AAIT DNOI ‘dVAd SI NHANO AHL 








ec ‘ 


MARY MILLS PATRICK RETIRES 281 


no other way can we better lay bare the ideals that 
have been manifested in her work and life: 


“T have recently listened to your discussion in 
the last student forum of the year on the subject 
of the world’s greatest need. I was pleased with 
your desire to do as much as possible yourselves to 
promote the various world needs. ~ 

“In pursuance of the same subject, I am going 
to speak to you, today, on what I consider the 
world’s greatest need—its need to recognise the 
fact that life is spirit. In saying this I am speak- 
ing not from the point of view of religion only, but 
also that of both biology and philosophy. The 
science of life is rapidly eliminating from its the- 
ories other forces than those of spirit; and, also, 
the application of pragmatic philosophical prin- 
ciples vindicates the statement that life is spirit. 
Any attempt to define what we mean by ‘ spirit ’ 
beyond the scope of our thinking today, but we 
shall take ‘ spirit’ in the pragmatic sense of our 
common understanding of the word. 

“Here in this college you are members of the 
graduating class, soon to leave us; beyond the 
college is your country and the nation to which 
you belong; beyond the country is the world; be- 
yond the world is the universe and other unknown 
realms, and beyond, above and within all seeming 
existence is spirit, the cause of the life of the uni- 
verse, of the world, of the country and of the 
individual. 

“ The realisation that life is spirit brings us into 


282 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


harmony with existence, and confers freedom of 
soul, and points out the pathway to the reality. 

“Recent writers have emphasised various the- 
ories of change, according to which we are now in 
a period of rapidly accelerating evolution. The 
early centuries of animal life were slow, and the 
emergence of advanced types of thought has been 
extremely retarded, but with the increased use of 
the higher brain centres and larger powers of 
thinking, we gradually enter upon a period in which 
evolution is accelerated, and common observation 
apparently shows us today that thought is chang- 
ing more rapidly than was ever before the case. 

“‘ During all the early centuries of history, and 
even almost to the present moment, the world’s 
answer to the world’s greatest need was military 
success; large armies, large navies, vast construc- 
tion of armaments and munitions were considered 
essential to national progress and in comparatively 
recent times many young men looked forward to 
entering the army as the best that life could offer. 
During the last few years, however, the change in 
public opinion regarding military needs has been 
great, so that now you will hardly find a nation 
that would dare to proclaim that the aim of na- 
tional existence is military supremacy. 

“The conflict of war, however, has been replaced 
by another form of conflict, which in some ways is 
even more deteriorating, and that is the strong push 
for economic supremacy. This aim, to be sure, has 
the advantage over the military aim, of safeguard- 
ing life rather than destroying it, but, on the other 


MARY MILLS PATRICK RETIRES 283 


hand, does not develop the higher virtues that 
belong to military life, such as self-sacrifice, self- 
forgetfulness, love of country and the love of some 
great cause. 

“Economic conflict, however, provides a possi- 
bility of civilisation, the discoveries of science, 
large philanthropies, and education for the whole 
world; and in the far-reaching and general results 
produced, the lower aims of the individual who is 
living for money may, perhaps, be forgotten. 

‘“‘ Europe, however, in its present condition needs 
to be freed from this economic strife, just as much 
as it needed to be freed in the past, from the mili- 
tary strife. In studying this subject, one is led to 
ask the question: What would make the individual 
or the nation ready to share profits with other in- 
dividuals and other nations? There is a story 
which was told me by an old resident of Adrian- 
ople, which is absolutely true. The narrator was 
a man who had a trade which was carried on in the 
market, and as is often the custom in the markets 
of the East, those who pursued the same trade, sat 
together, one beside the other, in the same part of 
the market. This man said that if a customer 
came along in the morning, and gave some trade to 
one of them, the next customer who appeared was 
asked to go on to the next trader, so that the profits 
of the day should be as equally divided as possible 
between them all. Where could we point to a 
parallel incident in modern economic life? 

“Yet, in travelling through Europe at the pres- 
ent time, while the large problems of reparation 


284 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


and restoration of economic stability are so gener- 
ally discussed, one is often surprised to find recog- 
nition of higher values, even in the most unex- 
pected quarters. It is not uncommon to hear the 
remark: ‘Europe will never be settled until the 
spirit of the nations change ’"—and whatever the 
propositions may be that are made by the com- 
mittee on reparations or by other authorities, mul- 
titudes realise that there must be a spirit of give 
and take, before tranquillity can be restored. 
‘Every man takes care that his neighbour does 
not cheat him, but a day comes when he begins to 
take care that he does not cheat his neighbour, and 
then he has changed his market cart into a chariot 
of the sun,’ as a great writer once said. 


‘In the period of rapid evolution into which 

humanity is apparently entering, there is even now 
a vista, of the possible greater control by spirit. 
I think that we must all agree that the realisation 
that life is spirit would bring an entire transforma- 
tion to the individual and national point of view. 
“ “How would this transformation take place? 
The laws of biological well-being of spirit are very 
simple. The spirit never is at its best in a con- 
dition of discord, and experiments in the laboratory 
of spirit quickly prove that all forms of hatred 
~ tend to limit the power of its action, while the 
opposite attitude enlarges its influence. So that 
the greatest power of spirit is easy to produce if 
the simple laws of the well-being of spirit are fol- 
lowed. Yet in order to enlarge this power, every 
spirit must have its fullest activity. 


MARY MILLS PATRICK: RETIRES = 285 


‘“‘ Observe the law of love, and the spirit will be 
able to function correctly. Remove discord and 
the laws of harmony will reign. But well-being of 
spirit is not enough to produce a far extended in- 
fluence. It is true that the most beautiful char- 
acter may be found in some hovel, or some obscure 
corner, in a life of which the world knows little or 
nothing, and we can probably all of us think of 
some fine personality of that type, hidden away 
from the world. Such illustrations are often 
given, yet the power of the extended action of 
the human spirit in its largest sense is based on 
the power of thought, for the thinking capacity 
is the gauge of the extent of the power of spirit. 
Therefore, in order to secure the highest effect 
and the largest influence of the life that realises 
that life is spirit, training of the higher brain 
centres and discipline of the power of thought is 
necessary. The right attitude of life gives us the 
ideal, but we must think, in order to apply that 
ideal to its problems. That is why higher educa- 
tion is so important everywhere. The people who 
know how to think are the ones that control the 
world, and they are the ones who could best apply 
the highest power of spirit. They often control 
the world in the wrong way because they do not 
know what life really is; but, on the other hand, to 
realise that life is spirit, is not enough to have a 
large influence, but the strongest thinkers will 
always hold that influence. 


“ Realising that life is spirit even helps greatly 
in ordinary life, as it changes the entire point of 


286 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


view. It transforms conditions, and brings one to 
another plane of thinking and a great difference in 
values. You may illustrate this by the experience 
before you. You will go away from the college 
into quite different circumstances of living. Col- 
lege anxieties will end—you will no longer need to 
think about grades in your classes, or the success 
of the student government, or athletic contests on 
the plateau, but all kinds of new anxieties will 
come into your lives; you will have various difficult 
decisions to make; and hard problems to meet. 
Yet if you remember, in face of those new difficul- 
ties and problems, that life is spirit, your point of 
view suddenly rises to a higher plane; you see your 
troubles in a different light, and you are sure to 
find an unexpected solution much easier and better 
than you had hoped. 

“In national life it is easy to see that this real- 
isation would bring entirely to an end the old mili- 
tary régime. That goes without saying, for if the 
majority of people in power in the world believed 
that life is spirit there would never be any 
more war. 

“It would also change the point of view of the 
economic conflict. The man that knows in his in- 
most soul what life really is will not strive night 
and day for ever increasing wealth. If all business 
men and women believed this truth, the number of 
multi-millionaires would probably diminish, for no 
one would give very much to secure something of 
secondary value, except for world progress. Yet 
the good side of economic progress would remain. 
More money rather than less would be spent in 


MARY MILLS PATRICK RETIRES ~ 287 


increasing the power of thought, by building col- 
leges and universities; by promoting all kinds of 
research work, by encouraging scientific discover- 
ies, and by giving all nations the beauty of civilisa- 
tion and art; and the pleasure, even in making 
money, would then be raised to a higher plane. 

“The highest result, however, of regarding life 
from the point of view of spirit is that it makes the 
power of creative thought possible. The idea of 
creative thought has become very popular during 
recent years, so that almost every book that one 
opens of a psychological or sociological type speaks 
of this power. 

‘“‘ Creative thought is possible to all of us. It is 
first shown in change of one’s own point of view. 
An artist once told Emerson that in order to paint 
a tree one must become a tree, and I suppose that 
in order to carry out successfully any reform, one 
must become in a certain sense a part of that which 
has to be reformed. The creative thought that 
transforms the world begins within, transforming 
the inner self. It has the power to change the 
control of self-interest, and to bring new and 
larger purposes. It will increase the love of re- 
ligion, not the outward form which you may call 
your religion, and I may call mine, but increase 
the love of seeking after truth in the inner life, and 
of trying to live according to the principle of love 
to God and to our neighbour. This creative 
thought brings inner strength and joy and power 
and leads to a life of freedom in the soul, and to 
outer activities that change the course of history. 

“Let us, then, remember that life is spirit. 


288 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


‘God is Spirit and they that worship Him must 
worship Him in spirit and in truth.’ ” 


Turning to the graduating class, President Pat- 
rick said: 


“It is a wonderful thing to stand as you do at 
the threshold of life with its many possibilities 
before you. 

“These possibilities of good may become real 
to you with beauty and happiness far beyond what 
you think or desire. 

“You may ask how, and when, will this be pos- 
sible. How can we glorify the struggle of life with 
its apparent difficulties and disappointments and 
make it a thing of constant joy? 

“If you can remember that the highest laws of 
spirit are goodness, love and truth, you can make 
of your life what you will. If the clouds of hatred, 
distruct and fear do not arise to overshadow your 
path, you can always find the inner strength. 

“Yet the path is upward, and to continue the 
ascent you need to look beyond where the light of 
eternity shines, to the life that never ends. There 
can be no real failure, for it can always be changed 
to success, and no coming to the end of the things 
that we love and care for, for there will always be 
a new beginning in the life that is spirit.” 

President Patrick concluded with the following 
prayer: 


‘“‘ We thank Thee, O God, for the endless renew- 
ing of life. Thou that art never weary of setting 


MARY MILLS PATRICK RETIRES 289 


us free from the bonds wherewith we have bound 
ourselves, make us walk without fear or any kind 
of bondage. Clear, O Lord, our inner vision, that 
we may receive new light; open our ears to hear 
the voices that are calling to us to make the world 
new by the creative power of love. Fit us for the 
task that is ours, and endue us with the spirit of 
that heavenly kingdom that is to come upon the 
earth where all shall be brothers and people 
of God.” 


The last event of the academic year was the 
commencement exercises with the retirement of 
Mary Mills Patrick as President and the inaugura- 
tion of Kathryn Newell Adams, on June 9, 1924. 

The academic procession marching the length of 
the terrace to Gould Hall was led by Admiral Mark 
Bristol, followed by delegates from seventeen col- 
leges and universities, and these in turn by the 
faculty. The Board of Trustees was represented 
by Dr. George A. Plimpton, of New York City. 

After opening remarks by President Patrick, ad- 
dresses were made by Admiral Bristol, Dr. Plimp- 
ton, Consul-General Ravndal, Dr. W. W. Peet, 
Mrs. Middleton Edwards, a leading alumna of 
the city; Mrs. Floyd H. Black, president of the 
alumnz association; Ismail Hakki Bey, president 
of the Turkish Stamboul University; and greetings 
from Columbia University by Professor Edward 
Meade Earle. 

Dr. George A. Plimpton, in the name of the 


290 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


Board of Trustees in the United States, inaugu- 
rated Kathryn Newell Adams as president of Con- 
stantinople Woman’s College, presenting her with 
the keys, and then introducing her to Mary Mills 
Patrick and others as President. 

Miss Adams, in a graceful and appropriate re- 
sponse, spoke of her hope for the growth of the 
college, and of the privilege it had been to work in 
it. In conclusion she said: 


“But it has been the greatest privilege to me, 
so great a privilege that I do not dare to dwell 
upon it, to have been connected with her, who for 
so many years has been the star, the pilot, the 
inspiration and the hope of all who have had the 
rare opportunity of working with her; of being 
ennobled and strengthened by her character and 
scholarship and being inspired by her love for 
truth, for justice, for humanity, for God. Honour- 
able trustees, friends, alumnz, students and fac- 
ulty, I hereby pledge my heart, my mind, my 
strength in the service of this college she so deeply 
loved, in carrying onward and upward the ideals 
she has lived and striven for during these years; 
in trying to realise the goal she has set for the 
college, whose guiding star she will always be.” 

A few days after these exercises, Dr. Patrick 
started for America via Europe. Her departure 
from Constantinople was an ovation. Turkish 
officials, American embassy personnel and a crowd 
of friends came to the station to see her off and 


MARY MILLS PATRICK RETIRES 291 


shower her with gifts and flowers. Among the 
alumne were about fifteen of the Turkish grad- 
uates headed by Halideh Hanum, who expressed 
for them the devotion and gratitude of the alumnz 
to Dr. Patrick and presented for them a diamond 
ring to the departing president. 

She stopped for two days in Sofia, where every 
moment was filled with entertainment culminating 
in a banquet to which sat down some fifty Bul- 
garian alumnz and alumni of the two American 
colleges in Constantinople. Many significant and 
appreciative speeches were made to Dr. Patrick, 
to which she made her usual happy responses. 

At length, she was on the train, and the Near 
East rapidly slipped away. Europe and America 
lay ahead. She had finished her work as president 
of this great woman’s college in the Orient. Here 
we might gather up some of the many tributes to 
her work and personality into a bouquet of loving 
thoughts. 

Two beautiful gifts in Bulgaria were a priceless 
table-cover put together by the alumnz of pieces 
of old embroidery, and the decoration that is the 
highest order of Service to the State, conferred by 
King Boris in recognition of her educational work 
for the women of Bulgaria. Miss Dodd was also 
presented with the decoration of the second class. 

From the first Bulgarian graduate: 


“We are happy that we can assure you of the 


292 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


great admiration with which your name is covered 
and of the gratitude which we owe you for the 
spiritual culture created through your untiring, 
persevering work.” 


Here follows part of an address by Mrs. Middle- 
ton Edwards, an English alumne of the early col- 
lege days: 


“Tt is difficult without knowing the early equip- 
ment and history of the college to appreciate ade- 
quately Dr. Patrick’s enormous achievements. In 
things spiritual as well as things material, the 
growth has been phenomenal. In the New World, 
where opportunities are greater and populations on 
the increase, such progress as our college has made 
would be extraordinary. In the Old World, where 
events perforce move more slowly, it has been little 
less than miraculous. . . . Howhas Dr. Patrick 
achieved these things? 

“First, by using her own passionate ambition 
for the college to the full. She has been undaunted 
by obstacles and only spurred on by difficulties. 
And, what is even more remarkable, she has been 
able to use the ambitions of others to assist in her 
great work. Just as she is a good judge of excel- 
lent building materials and adequate physical sur- 
roundings, so she has been remarkably discerning 
in choosing the best people to be her colleagues 
and in bringing out in them the finest they have to 
offer. This is a real gift of the gods and comes to 
but a few of us. Dr. Patrick, like all other suc- 


MARY MILLS PATRICK RETIRES 293 


cessful rulers, has lived in an atmosphere of free- 
dom and allowed her faculty and staff a liberty of 
choice and action seldom found in any institution 
of learning. She has always believed it best to 
believe the best of people, and her belief has been 
justified. This has taken great courage. She must 
have had dark moments of misgiving when failure 
stared her in the face, but her persistence in this 
policy has made her great achievement possible. 

‘““ When we were students in Scutari, years ago, 
we took Dr. Patrick for granted, as it is the custom 
for heedless young things to do. It was only as we 
grew older that we realised how much she was 
doing for the women of these lands. But even in 
those youthful days we knew what a stimulating 
effect she had on our ambitions. Should we have 
the smallest of aspirations, she always urged us to 
try our fortune in new places. Dr. Patrick fired 
the smallest spark of adventure that lay in us. 
Because she insisted in believing in our abilities, 
we finally came to believe in them ourselves, no 
matter how lacking in confidence we had been.” 


We have quoted Mrs. Edwards somewhat at 
length, because she has expressed with great fe- 
licity the qualities that made President Patrick so 
remarkable a chief. Mrs. Edwards spoke from 
the standpoint of a teacher in the college as well as 
a student, for she headed the music department for 
some years. The brief address of Mrs. Floyd 
Black, president of the alumn@ association, was in 
presentation of a portrait of Dr. Patrick “ to hang 


294 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


in tae Blue Parlour as a visible reminder of her 
presence when she no longer goes in and out 
among us.” 

Quite a different note was struck by Admiral 
Bristol, relatively a newcomer to the East. He 
said: 


‘When I was about to come to Turkey, a few 
years ago, I heard in Paris of a wonderful person- 
ality that I should meet here, and I looked forward 
to that meeting. When I met Dr. Mary Mills 
Patrick, I found that imagination had not been 
equal to realisation. Since then I have looked for- 
ward to the operation and development of this col- 
lege, always expecting improvement and greater 
development, and again I found realisation greater 
than imagination.” 


Consul-General Ravndal asked: 


“‘ How can we follow in Dr. Patrick’s train? She 
has faith and enthusiasm in abundance. These 
heaven-sent qualities, next to loyalty to duty, are 
vital requisites. Furthermore, besides being pure 
and unselfish in purpose, cheerful, undaunted and 
full of hope, Dr. Patrick has been gentle. The 
atmosphere she has created about her personality 
and her efforts has produced not only admiration 
but also affection, such warm-hearted attachment 
as it is given to few to inspire.” 


No one was better fitted to speak of the quality 


MARY MILLS PATRICK RETIRES 295 


of Dr. Patrick’s achievement than William W. 
Peet, for a lifetime her trusted advisor. He said 
in part: 


“Dr. Patrick has been the pioneer in the idea 
that higher education for young women would meet 
with an encouraging reception in Turkey. The 
thought that a young woman might study the same 
subjects as her brother was not so generally ac- 
cepted as now. There were, I think, no colleges in 
Turkey for young women when Dr. Patrick had 
her vision of such a college as this has become. 

The republic has removed many of the 
customs that bound the life of women to a nar- 
rower sphere than they now enjoy. At the present 
time the higher schools of the government and 
most of the professions are open to women. These 
changes have been brought about without protest 
and with that degree of acceptance that indicated 
that such changes were not in advance of their 
time. It is interesting to note that Dr. Patrick’s 
early position in regard to the higher education of 
women and their life vocations has been fully sus- 
tained by action taken on the part of the govern- 
ment and by changed customs that now have the 
support of the leaders of the people. 

“In developing her vision, Dr. Patrick has 
shown the qualities of a great leader in her power 
of enlisting the enthusiasm and support of others. 
It calls for the exercise of rare qualities to success-. 
fully meet ignorance and stubborn misconception; 
to be able to clothe a cause with such a light as to 


296 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


enlist support, financial and physical; to lead the 
slow of heart and narrow of spirit to invest in a 
venture of benevolence for the good of those in a 
faraway land. Eloquence is said to consist besides 
the charm of beautiful diction in the power to en- 
kindle an appreciative response in others. Elo- 
quence of this sort Dr. Patrick has brought to 
her cause. 

“Today, we may not fully understand how this 
great work has been accomplished, but we all joy- 
fully recognise the result—the qualities of mind 
and heart that place our leader among the great 
ones of earth. She has had a vision that has led 
her to devise generous things for the young women 
of this land. Eloquence that has enabled her so to 
paint the picture of her dreams as to enlist support 
and gifts of others; leadership that has enabled her 
to work out here the reality of her visions so that 
we all rejoice in the splendid fulfillment of it.” 


On her return to the United States, Dr. Patrick 
received from the Trustees of Constantinople 
Woman’s College the rank of President Emerita. 


XXIT 
FEMINISM IN THE NEAR EAST IN 1924 


REAT as have been the political changes in 
(, the Near East in the last half century, no 
change has been greater or more beneficent 
than that in the position and work of women. This 
has been particularly marked with the Moslem 
women of Turkey. The walls around a Turkish 
woman’s life were seriously jarred in 1908, and 
since then have gradually toppled over. 

Among the great plans for a new Turkey after 
1908, were those advocated by the Kadenler Dun- 
yassy, or Woman’s World, the weekly organ of the 
Society for the Duffusion of the Rights of Turkish 
Women, which outlined a program involving com- 
prehensive reforms in the social, economic and 
educational fields. Turkish women began to write 
for the periodicals, and the old idea that a woman 
must never be mentioned outside of the harem died 
a painless death. 

Some external changes that have come to Turk- 
ish women are the lifting of the veil, which has 
even been abolished by law, the removal of the par- 
titions in the tramways and theatres that used to 
segregate the sexes, the freedom of the mosques, 


297 


298 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


that never used to admit women except behind 
grills or curtains, and the freedom to ride in open 
carriages beside their husbands and to eat with 
them in European restaurants. 

Despite the interruptions incident to war-times, 
the education of women has progressed. Today, 
Turkish women are admitted to the University of 
Stamboul, where they are studying law, medicine, 
literature, and science with the men. To one who 
knew the old-time Turkish girls who screamed 
when they met a man servant in the grounds of 
Constantinople Woman’s College, and who could 
not sit at a table waited on by a man, it is hard to 
conceive of them discussing their courses calmly 
with male students. 

Many of the plans for schools were upset by the 
series of wars that ravished Turkey. But these 
wars accomplished another thing for Turkish 
women; they made it necessary for them to take 
the places of the men at the front, and so business 
opportunities have come to women. During the 
Balkan wars, when a wave of patriotism swept 
both men and women, the latter took to nursing 
and worked in the Red Crescent Society, the Mos- 
lem branch of the Red Cross. At this time, also, 
women began for the first time to take part in 
political movements and to show themselves stir- 
ring orators. In the military campaigns some 
Turkish women tramped after the armies with 
supplies. 


FEMINISM IN THE NEAR EAST 299 


Perhaps the most significant movement of today 
in Turkey is the Club of Turkish women organ- 
ised by Halideh Hanum to study the Moslem laws 
governing marriage and divorce and to compare 
them with those in European countries. Some five 
hundred of these women have drawn up a petition 
and submitted it to the National Assembly. This 
petition attacks the four main questions of im- 
provement in Turkish family life: the establish- 
ment of a minimum age for marriage, fifteen for 
women and nineteen for men, improvement in the 
marriage formalities, more suitable divorce laws, 
and the abolition of polygamy. 

The feminists of Turkey are not, as yet, deeply 
concerned with the question of equal suffrage, 
although permission to form a political party was 
recently asked and refused. Although women may 
not vote, they may become Members of the Na- 
tional Assembly. No woman has yet been elected 
to this office, but several have received votes for 
it, among them being Halideh Hanum, who has 
been very active in politics. 

The entrance of Turkish women into the eco- 
nomic field has been stimulated at every turn by 
Dr. Patrick, who has upon their earliest demand 
offered them courses in nursing, medicine, business, 
agriculture and home economics. 

Halideh Hanum had three younger half-sisters. 
One had studied in the college for some years 
before the Revolution of 1908, but was finally 


300 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


removed because of objections coming from Sultan 
Abdul Hamid. The two youngest, however, en- 
tered after 1909. Of these, Niguiar Hanum, a tall, 
calm-faced, handsome girl, graduating in 1914, was 
sent to build up a large Arab school in Beirut. She 
is now the wife of the Turkish consul to Geneva, 
who is also Turkish representative at the League 
of Nations. The other sister, little bright-eyed 
Belkees, after graduation became the head of the 
largest girls’ school in Constantinople. That same 
year, the Department of Public Instruction asked 
Halideh Hanum to outline a course of study ne- 
cessary for the reorganisation of girls’ schools 
throughout the country, and at the same time she 
was appointed inspector for thirteen schools in 
Constantinople. Nasly Hanum, the first Turkish 
graduate from the college after Hamidian restric- 
tions were removed, became a teacher of Turkish 
in the preparatory school, keeping the position 
until her marriage. She is now the wife of the 
Turkish ambassador to London. 

There was a father, some time ago, who, when 
asked to keep his daughter in the college after her 
sophomore year, replied gruffly, ““ No, she knows 
too much already, I shall have trouble finding her 
a husband.” But that day has passed, in Constan- 
tinople and Angora, at least. Dr. Adnan Bey, the 
Angora politician, who was recently suggested as 
minister to Washington, has found his brilliant 
wife, Halideh Hanum, of the greatest service in 


FEMINISM IN THE NEAR EAST 301 


his career, and Assim Bey, recently chief of police 
in Constantinople, has always been stimulated by 
his wife, Gulistan Hanum, the first Turkish grad- 
uate of the high school. Ali Djenani, too, a mem- 
ber of the National Parliament, is very proud of his 
daughter, Sabiha Hanum, class of 1919, who does 
good service by acting as volunteer guide to tour- 
ists, putting at their disposition her knowledge of 
history and languages. Hussein Bey, interpreter 
to Ismet Bey, at Lausanne, and professor of Turk- 
ish at Robert College, is another prominent man 
whose wife, Mihri Hanum, was educated in Con- 
stantinople Woman’s College. 

There is a list of honour of Turkish graduates 
from this college who have done fine work. Safieh 
Ali Hanum, class of 1916, took her degree in medi- 
cine at the University of Wurtzburg, Germany, in 
1923, and has since practised in Stamboul and 
served on the staff of the American Hospital. 
Bedrieh Veyssi, class of 1917, took a medical 
course in Germany, largely at the University of 
Miinich. MHairieh Ahmed, class of 1918, and 
Medroukeh Ahsen, class of 1919, later took mas- 
ter’s degrees from their Alma Mater. 

In Albania, great opportunities are opening as 
the result of the formation of the Albanian Re- 
public. The leadership of these promising women 
is undoubtedly in the hands of the Kyrias ladies, 
whose school at Tirana is probably the greatest 
force for wholesome progress that is there at work. 


802 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


Feminism is well advanced in Greece, women 
commonly taking the highest education, studying 
with the men, entering the professions, and asking 
for the vote. Part of the work of Constantinople 
Woman’s College was to give to the Greek women 
of Turkey similar advantages. 

In the Balkans, there has been very rapid prog- 
ress in the work of women, ever since the gaining 
of political independence. The progress of Bul- 
garian women has been especially marked. Bul- 
garia has an excellent school system with equal 
opportunities for women. Under the patronage of 
the late queen, schools of nursing were established. 
The nurses were called “the Samaritans,” and 
were in great demand in the recent wars. Some 
Bulgarian charities are soup kitchens for the poor, 
societies for the care of orphans, and free classes 
to teach trades, such as sewing, cooking and 
dress-making. 

All Bulgarian peasants, of course, work, but the 
census of 1911 recorded also two thousand nine 
hundred and seven women wage earners exclusive 
of servants. The chief profession that women 
have entered is teaching, but in 1911, five thousand 
three hundred and four women are reported as 
being government officials, out of a total of forty- 
nine thousand seven hundred and six, or one-ninth 
of the civil servants are women. A few women 
doctors, over two hundred obstetricians, and a con- 
siderable number of women dentists showed the 


FEMINISM IN THE NEAR EAST — 3038 


interest of these women in medicine. A _ few 
women are in the telegraph and postal service, a 
very few women are lawyers, and a considerable 
number have gone into journalistic or other literary 
work, among them publishing a Bulgarian women’s 
journal. Women are also successfully entering the 
field of business. 

Legally, Bulgarian women have a good status, 
being able to hold their own property, to witness 
in law suits, and to control their children jointly 
with their husbands. Socially, they may meet men 
freely, be courted instead of married by arrange- 
ment, go out either alone or with their husbands, 
and finally to divorce as freely as do the men. 
Divorce is, however, not easy, as it is a religious 
matter, and the Church will not often grant it 
except for unfaithfulness. 

Mary Mills Patrick has always been a feminist 
in the very best sense of the word, trusting in the 
ability and character of women. She was a suf- 
fragist long before it was popular in America or 
heard of in the Orient, and she has lived to see 
women ready to claim the vote in most of the 
Balkan States, Greece and Turkey. It is a long 
time since her advanced views shocked anyone in 
the Near East as much as did her riding a bicycle 
a quarter of a century ago, when an old-time Turk 
exclaimed, ‘‘ That ever I should live to see such 
infamy! ” 

She has made education for women popular in 


jeseen ene Ty) 
eer ne A OAC tte. 


304 AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


the Orient, a considerable feat. At present, her 
college has made so good in the Levant that the 
former Queen of Greece expressed herself as 
desirous of having an American college similar to 
this one founded in Athens, even offering to pro- 
vide land and buildings for the purpose, the people 
of Sofia, Bulgaria, are attempting to secure such a 
college, the Arab king, Feisal of Iraq, wished that 
his people might share in this American education, 
and some distinguished Russians offered to the 
trustees the deed of an estate in the Crimea if the 
latter would establish an American school there. 
Truly the seeds from the mother plant have spread 
widely. Now that the day has come when women, 
through the force of circumstances, are called to 
take a share in the leadership of the Near East, it 
is the women trained in this American college who 
are ready to answer the call. 

There have been some little but promising trees 
from the seed sown, in many an Oriental town: the 
fine little Kyrias Collegiate in Albania is carrying 
on the torch lighted at Constantinople Woman’s 
College, and so were for a time the fitting schools 
of Baidzar Dayan in Scutari and Victoria Ra- 
vouna in Pera, as well as the schools organised 
or administered by MHalideh Hanum, Niguiar 
Hanum, Belkees Hanum and the Turkish girls 
educated at government expense in this college. 
Amalia Frisch, Zarouhi Kavaljian, Bedrieh Veyssi, 
Safieh Alie and Cleoniki Clonari in their medical 


FEMINISM IN THE NEAR EAST 305 


and nursing practice are carrying some of the spirit 
of Mary Mills Patrick, and Mianzare Kapriellian 
took it to the benighted village of Chalgara. In 
the large cities of Bulgaria, the Alumnz of Con- 
stantinople Woman’s College have long been lead- 
ers in literary and philanthropic work, and the 
American schools in the interior have had many a 
fine teacher from the college. 

The emancipation of women in the Near East 
has been the result of many forces. But the fact 
that Turkish women today may take their place 
beside their husbands in politics as well as in civic 
life, that the Christian and Jewish women are edu- 
cated to meet the pressing economic needs, that 
womanhood is steadily winning more respect and 
deserving it, is surely due in part to the fact that 
a woman so sympathetically hopeful, so pro- 
nouncedly able, so understandingly international, 
so practical in what she has offered, as Mary Mills 
Patrick, has for fifty-three years walked and lived 
and worked among them. 


APPENDIX < 


TRUSTEES OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE FOR GIRLS AT 
CONSTANTINOPLE IN TURKEY (CONSTANTI- 
NOPLE WOMAN’S COLLEGE) 


Prior to 1924 
* Adams, George E. 
Bates, John L,. 
* Bowne, Borden Parker 
* Boyce, S. Leonard 
Darling, Samuel C. 
Day, Sarah Louise 
* Dutton, Samuel T. 
Ely, Robert E. 
Frothingham, John W. 
* Hall, Charles Cuthbert 
Hart, Albert Bushnell 
* Haskell, Edward H. 
Holt, Hamilton 
Lindsay, Samuel 
McCune 
Moore, Edward Cald- 
well 
Morgenthau, Henry 
Patrick, Mary Mills, ex- 
officio 1890-1924 
Sherrill, Charles H. 
Toulmin, Alice M. 
Walker, Walter B. 
* Wiley, Albert F. 


* Deceased. 


Present Trustees, 
1924-1925 
Crane, Hon. Charles R. 
Bingham, William, 2nd 
Brown, William Adams 
Coolidge, Archibald C. 
Duggan, Stephen P. 
forbes, Mrs. J. Malcolm 
Hatch, Harold Ames 
Jenkins, Mrs. Helen 
Hartley 
Williams, Talcott 
Keyes, Harold B. 
Kimball, Grace N. 
Leach, Mrs. Henry God- 
dard 
Morgenthau, Mrs. Henry 
Peet, William W. 
Holt, (hei 
Plimpton, George A. 
Simpson, Jean W. 
Vanderlip, Mrs. Frank A. 
Villard, Mrs. Henry 


Adams, Kathryn Newell, 
ex-officio, President of 
the College. 


APPENDIX 307 


AMERICAN OFFICERS OF ADMINISTRATION AND IN- 
STRUCTION IN THE AMERICAN HIGH SCHOOL 
AND CONSTANTINOPLE WOMAN’S COL- 
LEGE, 1871 To 1924 


Alexander, Christine 
Anderson, Sarah W. 
Arnold, Katherine S. 
Bowden, Muriel 

* Boyce, Helen 


Byington, Carrie (Mrs. 


Orvil Reed) 
Calloway, Mrs. Theo- 
dosia 
Campbell, Elizabeth L. 
Chambers, Lawson P. 
Chase, Caroline S. 
Childs, Harriet (Mrs. 
Willis Mead) 
Christie, Jean O. 
Clarke, Edith 
Clopath, Henriette 
* Clossen, Sarah A. 
Conklin, Mary 


Conner, Leslie (Mrs, F. 


G. Williams) 
Cook, Marjorie W. 
(Mrs. H. W. Davis) 
Davenport, Mildred S. 
Davidson, Helen 
Dozier, Mrs. Eliza- 
beth G. 
Ellis, Ellen D, 
Essenberg, Christine 
* Fensham, Florence 
Flint, Helen C. 


* Deceased. 


Gardlock, Agnes (Mrs. 
B. E. Kester) 

Giglio, Josephine (Mrs. 
C. A. Braider) 

Gile, Lydia (Mrs. 
Stephan Panaretoff) 

Gregory, Emily Ray 


* Griffths, Gwen 


Ham, Mildred 


* Hamlin, Clara (Mrs. L. 


O. Lee) 
Harbeson, L. Myra 
Hathaway, Miriam 
(Mrs. H. LeB. Samp- 
son ) 
Herrick, Marion T. 
Holmes, Edna (Mrs. J. 
H. Frizzell) 
Hoover, Dr. Alden R. 
Hulbert, Winifred E. 
Ingersoll, Elizabeth 
(Mrs. Earl Pritchard) 
Jenkins, Hester D. 
Jenison, Elsie S. 
Jenison, Louise (Mrs. 
Wm. H, Peet) 
Kellogg, Grace (Mrs. 
M. D. Griffith) 
Kennedy, Isabel 5. 
Kennedy, Mary J. 
Kinney, Muriel 


808 


* 


* 


Knox, Gertrude (Mrs. 
John Wells) 
Kocsis, Klara 
Kocsis, Virginia 
Lawrence, Martha E. 
Long, Rosa 
Lord, Agnes 
Lyon, Mary B. 
Mackenzie, Marion 
McAfee, Helen F. 
McNaughton, Janet S. 
McNaughton, Margaret 
(Mrs. J. P. Hester) 
Melvin, Helen E. 
Miller, Barnette 
Morse, Minerva 
Norton, Mrs. Alice 
Peloubet 
Norton, Margaret 
Olmstead, Susan H. 
Palmer, Bessie (Mrs. 
Robert Haviland) 
Pangalou, Mary (Mrs. 
W.i'D. Pa Biiss) 


Parkhurst, Eloise (Mrs. 


Chas. Huguenin) 
Parry, Nellie (Mrs. 

Handjian) 
Parsons, Ellen C. 
Parsons, Leila (Mrs. 

Chas. Riggs) 
Paton, Julia B. 
Patrick, Mary Mills 
Pavey, Anne 
Perkins, Agnes F. 


Rappleye, Julia A. 


* Deceased. 


AN EDUCATIONAL AMBASSADOR 


Redfern, Elizabeth 
(Mrs. D. C. Dennett) 

Reigart, Catherine 

Rignall, Edith 

Ring, Martha Demaris 

Ring, Priscilla A. 

Robinson, Mabel L. 

Rogers, Claudine 

Rowe, Hetty M. 

Rowell, Elsa 


* Silliman, Mary Warren 


Smith, Arma A. 

Snow, Julia A. 

Steele, Harriet 

Sutton, Esther H. 

Taylor, Sara B. (Mrs. 
M. der Garry) 

Tomson, Mrs. Cora 
Welch (Mrs. A. Van 
Millingen ) 

Towle, Elizabeth W. 

Townsend, Annis M. 

Vivian, Roxana H. 


* Walker, Winifred 
* Wadsworth, Mary A. 


Weeks, Angelina 

Weir, Mary Wallace 

Wentzl, Mary (Mrs. 
Alex. Killik) 


* Williams, Mrs. Kate 


Pond 

Williams, Cornelia 
(Mrs. W. N. Cham- 
bers) 

Wood, Marie R. (Mrs. 
G. R. Fairland) 


APPENDIX 309 


AMERICAN OFFICERS OF ADMINISTRATION AND IN- 
STRUCTION IN THE PREPARATORY SCHOOL AND 
CONSTANTINOPLE WOMAN’S COLLEGE, AT 
THE PRESENT TIME 


Adams, Kathryn Newell, 
President 

Briggle, Mrs. Grace Alice 

Briggle, Lester 

Burns, Eleanor I. 

Collier, Theodore 

Dodd, Isabel Francis 

Gurney, Caroline L. 

Hall, Mary A. 

Heizer, Pauline 

Humphreys, Agnes R. 

Johnson, A. Frances 

Landes, Margaret W. 


Miller, Susan Linda 
Murphy, Eda Lord 
Murray, Mrs. Wm. S. 
Murray, Wm. S. 
Pearce, Katharine S. 
Prime, Ida W. 
Skinner, Kathryn 
Smith, Helen Gertrude 
Spooner, Clare May 
Wallace, Louise B. 
Wallace, Mary Lee 
Weisenbarger, Ruth 
Wood, Marguerite R. 





1 it aoe ta! Pea 


Abie aah ets 


v 











INDEX 


A 


Adams, Kathryn Newell, 
275, 289, 290. 

Albania, 19, 52, 78, 80, 82, 
83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 

90, 91, 92, 94, 95, 194, 301. 


Albanian students, 97, 98, 
62, 


Alumnz Association, 
259, 260, 305 

American High School,. 
25, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 
34, 35, a4 53, 54, So 
62, 200, 216. 

Armenians, 15,35; 36, 
38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 


45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 52, 
213, 234, 

Arnautkeuy site, 51, 133, 
161, 195 


Art and Archzology depart- 
ment, 226 


B 


Balkan Wars, 107, 109, 191, 
192, 193, 195, 196, 198. 
Barton Hall, 30, 31, ei 61, 

2101, 132, 140. 
Bingham, William, 225. 
Borden, Caroline, 28, 29, 34, 

58, 59, Ae a Lou, 134, '206, 

ong: 


Bowker Building, 26, 30, 
gai 


1, 

Bristol, ee Admiral Mark 
i 224, 2 89, 294 

Bulgaria, 15, ‘18, 19, 52, 58, 
103, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 
sy ge ne ie 114, 115, 152, 


311 


190, 193, 194, 196, 198, 242, 
259, 302, 303, 304, 305. 
Bulgarian students, 100, 101, 
103; 104, 106, 107, 111, 115, 
118, 196, 213, 234, 240. 
Burns, Eleanor I., 185. 
Business Courses, 217, 290. 


Cc 


Caliph, 267, 269. 

Capitulations, 231. 

een for College, 59, 60, 

Clontri, Cleoniki, 75, 76, 
222, 384. 

College buildings in Arnaut- 
keuy, 177, 178, 179, 180, 
205, 206, 207. 

Constantinople Woman's 
College, 5, 6, 58, 61, 67, 75, 
76, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 
121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 
127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 137, 
138, 142, 153, 168, 169, 175, 
176, 181, 182, 190, 194, 200, 
204, 208, 209, 223, 226, 233, 
237, 240, 242, 244, 245, 246, 
247, 248, 253, 255, 257, 261, 
264, 265, 268, 273, 277, 278, 
279, 281, 289, 290, 298. 

Counter Revolution, 168, 
169, 170, 171, 172, 173, 174. 

Crane, Charles R., 178, 240. 


D 
Dako, Christo, 87, 89, 90, 
93, 9 


Dayan, Baidzar, 46, 47, 304. 


312 INDEX 


Dedication of college build- 
ings, 207, 208, 209, 210. 
Dodd, Isabel F., 53, 58, 140, 

206, 254, 291. 
Dodge, Grace H., 178, 181, 
239, 240 


Durant, Pauline, 139, 140, 
179. 


E 


Edwards, Winifred Seager, 
206, 289, 292, 293. 

ee Ambassador, 242, 
44 


English students, 203, 204. 


F 
Feminism, 13, 14, 15, 16, 38, 
297, 290, 291, 292, 293, 294, 
295, 296, 297, 298, 299, 300, 
301, 302, 303, 304, 305. 
Fensham, Flora A., 54, 206. 
Fire, The, 131, 132, 133. 


G 


Germany in Turkey, 243, 
244, 256, 257. 

Gould, Helen (Mrs. Finlay 
Shepherd), 141, 178, 179. 
Greece, 15, 18, 19, 52, 57, 65, 
68, 107, 108, 109, 190, 193, 
oa 196, 198, 202, 226, 302, 


Greek students, 63, 64, 65, 
66; 67, 68,69; 70, 715.72, 
F3y f FM POs ile lee, 
214, 234, 240. 

Gregorian 
Church, 41, 42. 

Gulistan, 142, 143, 267, 301. 

Gymnastic courses, 219. 


H 
Halideh, 5, 6, 94, 143, 163, 
164, 165, 166, 167, 170, 176, 
ane 193, 194, 267, 299, 300, 


Armenian 


Hall, Charles Cuthbert, 139. 
Hamid, II., Abdul, 13, 16, 
17, 18, 44, 58, 117, 129, 142, 
143, 168, 169, 172, 173, 174. 
Hamlin, Clara, 30, 35, 100. 
Hamlin, Cyrus, 26, 278. 
Harem, 143, 144, 145. 
Home Economics Depart- 
ment, 216, 217, 218, 298. 
Hozanna, 33, 34, 39, 62. 


I 
Iradeé, Imperial, 129, 138. 


J 
Jenkins, Hester D., 3, 13, 
125, 16 


Jews, 15, 16, 18, 40, 213. 
esti Alexandra, 76, 


K 
Kapriellian, ied 47, 
0 > 


3 b 


SOS) 
Kavaldjian, Zarouhi, 47, 219, 
304 


Kemal, Mustapha, 190, 266. 
Kyrias Collegiate, 94, 95, 96, 
301 


Kyrias, Parashkevi, 80, 82, 
83, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 93, 
95, 98, 155, 301. 

Kyrias, Sevasti (Mrs. 
Dako), 78, 81, 82, 83, 85, 
86, 87, 88, 89, 93, 95, 98, 
155, 301. 


L 


Legal status of Turkish 
women, 148, 149, 299, 


M 


Marriage (Armenian), 112, 
(Bulgarian), 112, 114, 303, 
(Greek), 74, (Turkish), 
112, 144, 146, 147, 148, 290. 


INDEX 313 


Medical and nursing depart- 
ment, 219, 220, 221, 222, 
223, 224, 225, 272, 299. 

Mehmet V., 174, 208. 

Missions, American, 18, 19, 
04 35,37, 86, 00,102, 
103. 

Morgenthau, Ambassador, 
ae 209, 230, 232, 236, 238, 

41, 

Murray, William and Mrs., 
177, 195, 234, 235, 245, 247, 

Music Department, 216, 293. 


N 


ety 160, 300. 
a East Relief, 224, 260, 


O 
Ottoman Empire, 15, 18, 26, 
43, 52; 138, 182, 234, 235, 
236, 237, 241. 


Pp 
Patrick, Mary Mills: In 
America, 130, 135,. 153, 
154, 250; Appearance, ais 
Birth, 20; in Bulgaria, 
291; Courage in danger, 
110, 246, 247, 250; Dip- 
lomacy, 116, 117, 120, 129, 
193, 275; Education, 20, 
21, 54, 57, 63; Elected 
president, 60; Executive, 
276, 278, 292, 293; Femi- 
nist, 303, 304; Idealism, 
134, 275; Journeys, first to 
@arkey, 22, (23, 24;. to 
Constantinople in 1914, 
232, 233; to America in 
1916, 243; to Constanti- 
nople in 1917, 250, 251, 
Poe eto, NLissionary 
work, 24; Parents, and 
faimiy,, 20,, 21, -.23,, 24; 
Publications, 55, 263; 
Raising money, 140, 143, 


154; Religious policy, 52; 
Retirement, 275, 289, 296; 
Speeches, 211, 279, 280, 
281, 282, 283, 284, 285, 286, 
287, 288; in Switzerland, 
232, 233; Teacher, 29, 30, 
35, 277; Tributes to, 180, 
208, 210, 211, 274, 290, 291, 
292, 293, 294, 295, 296; 
Withdrawal from Mis- 
sion Board, 290. 

Bo ane First Turkish, 
168. 

Pears, Sir Edwin, 206, 228. 

Peet, William W., 133, 134, 
135, 136, 137, 138, 208, 244, 
289, 294. 

Plimpton, George A., 210, 
289, 290 

Preparatory 
178, 216, 207. 

Prime, Ida Wood, 53, 140, 
169. 

Purchase of new site, 133, 
134, 135, 136, 137, 138. 


Department, 


R 


Red Crescent, 192, 197, 298. 

Red Cross, 192, 193, 197, 
224, 260, 298. 

Religious life of College, 
184, 185, 186, 197. 

Revolution of 1908, 136, 153, 
155, 156, 157, 158, 159, 160, 
ie 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 
167. 
Robert College, 26, 60, 61, 
63, 151, 185, 244, 270, 298. 
Rockefeller, John D., 178, 
180, 184. 

Roumania, 15; 18, 52, 102, 
120, 198, 226. 

Russians in Constantinople, 
262, 263, 264, 265, 271, 304. 


S 
Sage, Mrs. Russel, 178. 


314 INDEX 


Scutari, 27, 51, 119, 172, 195, 
197, 238, 249, 250, 293. 

Servia, 15, 18, 19, 102, 106, 
107, 109, 191, 198, 199, 226, 
259. 

Songs, college, 125, 126. 

Stokes, Olivia, 178, 206. 

Student Government Asso- 
ciation, 200, 201, 202. 


T 
Teachers’ courses, 218, 272. 
Turkish Republic, 190, 267, 
268, 269. 
Turkish students, 143, 150, 
151;\352, 154,155, 175):176, 
182, 234, 240. 


V 
Vivian, Roxana, 141, 153, 
154, 169, 200, 246. 
Vasquemegty Surpigh, 47, 
HAW 


WwW 


Wallace, Louise B., 234, 
235, 236, 242, 254, 254. 

Williams, Kate Pond, 28, 
29, 35, 58, 100. 

Woods, Mrs. Henry, 128, 
129, 130. 

Woman’s Board of Mis- 
yi 35, 58, 59, 60, 139, 
140 


World War, 109, 230, 231, 
232, 233, 234, 238, 241, 242. 
243, 249, 254, 255, 256. 


THE END 


MISSIONS AND RELIEF WORK 





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